


The Good-For-Nothing Doctor and the Fallen Inspector

by e_misuteri



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Love, Fluff, Happy Ending, Jealousy, Love Confessions, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Start by a conflictual relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 37,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26082448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/e_misuteri/pseuds/e_misuteri
Summary: * OC x Canon ahead!!!* Looking for proper summary (feel free to suggest!)I don't know how to describe/promote this work the way it should so... I'm just going to tell what is it about for now?Here is the relationship sheet (more like: a short novel) of my Psycho-Pass OC Toganezaki Natsuha shipped with Ginoza Nobuchika! I've been wanting to create an OC for him ever since S1 aired (in 2012!) and I finally found a suitable setting for the lady this year, I'm so happy!I spent more than a month writing it, and didn't expect it would turn the way it turned out but here it is, and I'm really proud of it to be honest.It is the longest fanfic I've written since I began my writing journey.Their relationship is starting off being the worst but slowly evolves into love.I'll be glad if you watched over them as they slowly discover each other and their changing feelings towards the other ♥
Relationships: Ginoza Nobuchika/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	1. Is the worst leading to the best? (prologue)

Their paths cross sometime towards the end of the first half of the first season of Psycho-Pass, when Ginoza was still an inspector. 

At that moment, Natsuha opened a forum/web discussion (sort of CommuField) place to give out advice about dog therapy (one of her passions) and became famous for giving “accurate” and “personalized” advice. Plus, people asking her questions found she was kind, polite and patient while replying. As she was still working at that time, it was only a side activity that took some hours every 2-3 weeks. One day, Ginoza was confused about the fact Dime (his dog) became more stressed out than usual (for some reason) and didn’t have enough self-confidence to rely on his knowledge only, even though he’s holding a certification as a dog therapist himself. That’s when he decided to look on the net following Kogami’s advice for some additional opinion to complete his knowledge and maybe gain a new perspective on the situation (he was worried he was getting too subjective and emotional because it involved his own dog).

After some research, he found out Natsuha’s forum and was convinced to check out her advice corner after seeing she received multiple positive feedbacks. However, he slowly was disappointed and even pissed off reading her advice in other threads because he thought they were “wrong” and that even some of them could “aggravate the situation”. He quickly changed strategy and decided to rely on himself for the time being.

He managed to somehow solve the situation with Dime but couldn’t get out of his mind this forum discussion: according to him, it was “unforgivable” such a forum could exist and “spread such information” because it could “mislead innocent people only looking for advice”. Ginoza decided to keep an eye on it and was looking for an opportunity to tell everyone that the “advice giver” and “so-said therapist” was giving false information. He was sometimes barging in the recent threads to tell about what he thought was the “true” advice but nobody was taking his words seriously; and Natsuha was herself “kicking him” out the topic… it kind of became “systematic”: every 2-3 weeks when Natsuha was updating her community and replying to questions, that “coin” was always there to barge in and give his own (unwelcomed) opinion. 

She felt pissed off when it became a habit of the “coin” and even issued a warning on her forum, telling the members not to listen to “the coin” because he was “pretending to act as her”. She also decided to restrict access to that user so he couldn’t give his opinion this often.

During the same timing, Natsuha decided to hold one offline meeting to celebrate her new milestone of followers and to meet (new) dog owners so she could give out her advice in person. Everyone in the community was invited to come with their dogs, while wearing their avatars’ costume characteristics. Ginoza saw the event invitation for one of them and decided to dedicate one of his day-off for this meeting, convinced it was all part of his police inspector job to free all those “poor innocent citizens” from “misleading information”.

The day of the meeting, Ginoza is determined to put an end to what he thought being unfair and goes to the place with his avatar cosplay, accompanied by Dime: only his face was hidden by the coin he uses in the CommuField; the rest was simply casual clothes of the same color. There, he assists in the back to Natsuha’s “advice corner”. He stepped forward when he heard something “wrong” and interrupted her in front of her audience: “You’re wrong. I’ve been following your forum for quite a while now and I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to say it. It is yadah yadah yadah and blah blah blah...” 

Natsuha simply let out a surprised scream: “the coin man… ?!” as Ginoza was slowly stealing all the spotlight from her. When she tried to stop him, he simply threw at her in a curt tone: “So you’re saying you have more knowledge about it? Tell me about it?” before he asked her some technical questions at which she didn’t have the reply. After several unsuccessful attempts at replying to his questions, Ginoza sighed before straightfully addressing her: “If you don’t know about it then stop wasting my time. I didn’t take my day-off to listen to such miserable advice.”

Natsuha was pissed off and almost shouted at him to leave the meeting if his only goal was to destroy all her hard work. He replied: “Yeah, it’s no problem. I had no intention of losing one more second here anyway,” before leaving. Ginoza had the feeling he accomplished his aim and fiercely believed he managed to put an end to what he thought was a masquerade. He even “bet” the community would sink into the net wonders...

That offline meeting was the worst one she ever had to organize, where she lost some of her followers. Some people even publicly shamed and insulted her in the forum for giving such information. Some others “swore allegiance” to the “coin man” who was celebrated as a hero. It also led Natsuha to feel miserable and hopeless at her own lack of knowledge. 

_ More than anything, how dare this coin head man barge into her community and leave her ashamed like that?! _


	2. From worst to better

Deeply hurt in her pride by the mysterious coin head man who “literally destroyed” her offline meeting, Natsuha throws herself into deeper study about dog therapy despite already passing her certification. Fortunately for her, she had built a solid “fanbase” within her community, so her audience didn’t reduce to zero. However, she felt the need to study more so nobody else like the coin man could tell her what she is saying is “wrong”. It almost became like an obsession and she had conflicted opinions: one part of her wanted to meet him again so she could “prove him” her worth, and the other part wanted him to disappear into the abyss so she could continue to give advice like before and hopefully built once more her community.

Some weeks passed and Natsuha didn’t hear about the coin man anymore. She thought he was some kind of troll who just wanted to mess with her community and was relieved at the thought he was gone; but his words remained stuck in her mind for some reason. As time passed, she managed to regain a fair amount of the followers she lost and was giving advice as usual. However, she was still studying like crazy during her free time, bragging to her friends and family how she would be “the one ashaming the coin man if he were to come back”, or being mid-determined, mid-angry be like: “I’m not letting this stupid coin head man stealing my audience!”. Natsuha was always seen snapping out when talking about him.

One day, what she had feared but couldn’t put in words happened: the coin man was back. At first, he just posted a thread asking advice for his dog Dime, which pissed off Natsuha when she saw his username appearing (she had lifted the restriction on him as she thought he became inactive). She thought about blocking him that time, but her pride was stronger than anything and she smirked, convinced it was now a match between them two: she wouldn’t let him steal the spotlight once more. She replied to his thread as she would do for any of the members of her community, and received a reply that left her speechless: “I’m surprised. I thought I’d still have some miserable piece of advice coming from you but that was actually something I didn’t think about. Thank you.”

Natsuha felt warm for some reason and smiled at herself seeing that reply, surprising herself thinking that the coin man wasn’t just some kind of troll. From then, she decided to give him back full access to the threads, but the coin man was only reacting sometimes, with short but concise replies.   
It didn’t seem he wanted to “prove her wrong” anymore and somehow, Natsuha felt stupid to have self-proclaimed him as enemy and opponent to beat. As much as she was relieved her hard studying sessions weren’t in vain, she was often seen pouting when thinking about the fact she wouldn’t be able to “prove him her worth”, as he wasn’t butting into her advice corner anymore.

That’s when she thought about it: if she were to organize another offline meeting, maybe the coin man will come and it’ll lead to an opportunity for her to prove to him how much she progressed… ?! She sent an invitation for the event as soon as her schedule allowed it and was hoping really hard the coin man would reply to it. She even went as far as sending him the invitation in private message, which led to their first direct interaction ever since the first offline meeting. He said he would come “if he feels like it, because his job is keeping him busy”. Natsuha felt mid-disappointed and mid-hurt upon seeing his reply, without understanding why.

That’s when a serious criminal case occurred. Natsuha happened to hear about it in TV. Copying the “CommuField case” where some avatars such as Spookie Boogie or Talisman were used by someone while their original owners are dead, a criminal was on the run, having fun with hacking avatars in offline meetings… while Natsuha was worried about it, she decided to maintain her event, whilst issuing a warning about the criminal in her community. She didn’t have any problem ever since she ran it so she thought she would be safe… but more than anything, she wanted to ensure the dogs and their owners would be safe.

Before the meeting, she warned her friends about her desire to maintain the meeting, even with the criminal still on the run. While they were really worried about it and even reluctant to let her hold the meeting, they ended up not telling anything about her decision anymore, as they lost to her stubbornness. She also let them know about the last updates about the coin man, as well as her desire for him to attend the meeting.

The day of the meeting, everything goes well… at least the first half of the meeting. Natsuha (still under her username and avatar cosplay) is very surprised to see the coin man and surprises herself running toward him as if she was really happy to see him. She manages to confront him and they talk a bit after that. He evokes the criminal case and adds it’s dangerous for a “lone woman” to still choose to hold such an event while a criminal is on the run, as they don’t know what he could do. Natsuha isn’t worried and tells him she’ll just have to call the police if something happens. The coin man lets out what seemed to be a chuckle. After that, a “bug” happened, making lose the avatars’ cosplay of the participants. 

Their true appearances were now unveiled.

That was the first time she saw the true appearance of the “coin man”: a man taller than her, with black hair, glasses and a serious look. Natsuha startled while seeing him: he seemed fishy for some reason. She put her hand in front of her mouth and threw to him: “Wow coin head man, you seem really fishy. Wonder if I should call the police now…”   
The man didn’t understand her sarcastic comment and simply replied: “There is no need to. I  _ am _ the police.”  
Natsuha blackoutted some seconds before retorting in a deignous tone: “Excuse me?! Are you maybe making fun of me?!”  
The man blankly stared at her some seconds before brandishing his police badge. “Making fun? I wouldn’t dare to. Public Safety Bureau inspector, Ginoza Nobuchika.”

Natsuha opened her mouth of surprise and shouted: “YOU??!!! WORKING FOR THE PUBLIC SAFETY BUREAU??!!!”  
Ginoza glared at her and made a gesture to indicate to her to be quiet. “Not so loud. Seems like our prey infiltrated your party. Thanks for your cooperation.”

The woman had a hard time processing what was happening now. A bug unveiling the participants true appearance? The “stupid coin head” is actually a PSB inspector? The criminal everyone was looking for was infiltrating her party? It was hard to believe. 

Before she even had the time to open her mouth and actually rispost, Ginoza made a gesture with his hand: “I have to go. We’ve found him. You and all the participants will be evacuated by one of my colleagues. Bye.”

He then left, leaving Natsuha speechless.


	3. The masks are dropping

A few days later, Natsuha learned the case was wrapped up and that the criminal was caught by the police. She sighed with relief and was glad her meeting ended without any casualty… “thanks to this coin head man who was actually a police inspector”. She pouted at that thought and decided to put aside the coin man head as discussing a bit with him managed to somehow lift the weight of the “enemy to beat”. 

She resumed her activity and was glad to see everything was back to normal: the members of her community actively posting questions, and her replying. She even gained new followers because it seemed couples had formed during her last meeting thanks to the bug who unveiled the participants’ true appearances. It seems some members were surprised to talk to “such a person” and then deepened their bond after they were evacuated: the criminal didn’t only cause harm.

After some of her followers pushed her to do so, Natsuha decided to hold another offline meeting… but she was more reluctant than the times before: firstly because some participants may have seen her true appearance due to the bug, and secondly because such a bug could happen again. She thought how lucky she was Ginoza was there at that moment because it could’ve ended much worse if not. Natsuha also thought about how “cowardly” she had become ever since the coin man head interrupted one of her previous meetings… even though he didn’t show any more “hostility” towards her and her advice.

The day of the meeting, she is surprised to see some people came without their cosplays, only in the aim to meet the other person that intrigued them the last time or simply to deepen further their bonds. At the contrary of the previous ones, it seemed this meeting was formed of tandems, visible in the “secret” park Natsuha is renting to organize her meeting. Her eyes widen when she sees in a corner the coin head man. She rushed towards him and he directed his look to her.

“Hey. It’s been a while; ever since that last meeting with the bug? You can drop the cosplay with me, I know your appearance after all.”

Natsuha touched the watch at her wrist and the hologram cosplay disappeared, unveiling her appearance. However, since it was at night (just like the other meetings), Ginoza couldn’t see exactly what she was like. He remained silent some seconds, still standing still in his cosplay. Natsuha pouted and directed to him: “Isn’t that unfair I’m the only one doing it,  _ Inspector Ginoza _ ?”

“I’d prefer if you don’t call me “inspector” there”, he begins, switching off his hologram cosplay, “I’m a simple civilian now.”

Natsuha screws her eyes to examine him from top to bottom. Since it was dark she didn’t see him well but reaches the conclusion he still seems fishy. Her attention was suddenly caught by the dog accompanying him; it was wagging its tail and the man claimed: “Oh, I didn’t introduce him to you yet. It’s Dime, my dog. I like to walk him in parks, and it seems he likes meeting other dogs, hence why your offline meetings are perfect opportunities to do so.”

She was actually about to ask him why he came at her meeting this time, but he replied before she even asked him. The woman simply let out a quick “I see,” before kneeling to pat Dime’s head. It seemed like he was smiling. “Wah, how cute!” exclaimed Natsuha, before proceeding to continue patting his head for some seconds more. She then stood up and initiated a conversation with Ginoza… more like she wanted to clarify his current stance about her advice.

“And so, it seems like I don’t see you butting into my advice corner anymore? Is my advice so amazing you can’t tell anything about them anymore?” While asking this, Natsuha put her hands on her hips with a proud expression on her face. Ginoza directed his look to her and stared at her blankly, before retorting: “What are you getting high for? Only because your advice got  _ slightly _ better? There seems to be a misunderstanding here so let me clarify: you’re still nowhere at a level where you can call yourself a competent dog therapist.”

Natsuha pouted upon hearing his reply, and quickly found another argument to “prove her worth”: “You say that but see all of them?” she asked, pointing her finger to the participants of her meeting, “they’re all gathered because of my amazing ability to give advice!”

Ginoza briefly closed his eyes before opening them and let out in a monotone tone: “Well, I must admit you  _ do _ have a talent to gather mass then.”

Natsuha didn’t bear his condescending attitude towards her. How come he didn’t realize how skillful and amazing she was?! She put her hands on the hips once more and claimed: “Despite all of this, you don’t come and butt into my advice corner right?”  
The man simply replied in a calm tone: “... I’m busy with my job. I don’t have time to pamper you every now and then even when I think you don’t give good advice.”

Natsuha put her hand in front of her mouth, taking a condescending tone: “Oooh yes right, sorry about it, Mister The Almighty Public Safety Bureau Inspector!! Mister the inspector must be really busy with his job! So busy he comes to offline meetings for the sake of destroying one’s popularity!”

Ginoza stayed silent some seconds as he glared at her before letting out: “I won’t join your provocation game. Feel free to tell whatever you want. By the way, may I know to whom I’m talking to? I don’t feel like calling you by your username now that we know each other’s appearance.”

The woman suddenly froze at the inspector’s question. Ever since she opened that community, she swore to herself to always separate it neatly from her work. Her family was famous for having efficient medical staff in several fields amongst the members. Her parents refused that she became a dog therapist: she even put under silence the fact she passed a certification alongside her studies to not betray their expectations…

As such, she had prepared a “fake” name in case someone related to her hobby were to ask her that question… but,  _ lying to a police inspector though _ ? It seemed like he didn’t have time to lie when he introduced himself to her, so “Ginoza Nobuchika” was certainly his true name. However, if he were to know she was from the Toganezaki family, and even worse, report it to her parents, she would be in a very tough position. She only had some seconds to think about it. As a doctor, she always had a favor to take securitized choices… and now was the time to do it too, at least in her point of view.

“Haha, true you gave me your name,” she began, unconsciously scratching the back of her hair, “my name is T-Tanaka Haruhi,” she claimed, giving away the fake name she came up with. After saying it, Natsuha glanced at him to judge his reaction; however all she saw was a dead-pan expression, though it wasn’t clear due to the reduced visibility.

“I see,” simply said Ginoza. “Nice to meet you.”  
“... same here,” gave back the woman.

They then talked a bit more, including about the previous meeting when the bug occurred, before the meeting ended. After that, their interactions continued from time to time through the community, even though their relationship didn’t have any turning point as they didn’t have enough time to interact properly due to their respective job keeping them busy.

They met again in the aftermath of the “Helmets case” (episode 17 of the first season), when Ginoza, Masaoka and Kunizuka gathered in the gymnasium to witness all the nurses and doctors taking care of the victims after the case wrapped up. Natsuha and her colleagues were actively helping with the process, and the woman had the opportunity to show once more her leadership skills in leading the nurses and volunteers that came in to help. During a short break, she noticed Ginoza somewhere in the audience seats and decided to go and greet him. 

While moving towards him, she had a proud smile: she loved more than anything feeling the adrenaline while being at work, and the current situation was perfect to feel all of this. She had tied her long hair in a bun, her work hairstyle, put on faint make-up for a natural effect and was wearing a long white coat with a very feminine outfit underneath. Natsuha was walking with a confident step, both of her hands in the coat’s pockets. She knew her presence there was necessary, that all of her colleagues knew of her worth and brilliant skills, and that she could do her job while feeling fully confident. 

When she arrived on the side of the inspector and his colleagues, she let out in a loud voice enough for him to hear: “It’s been a while,  _ Inspector Ginoza _ .”

She let out the last part with a sarcastic tone, as he seemed really proud of his title. The man with black hair turned his face to her as he heard his name. “Hello,” he began, thinking it was at first some random doctor mistaking him for someone else. “You are… ?” he inquired, as if he never saw her in his whole life.

The woman was at first surprised he seemed confused but she quickly understood why: her appearance at work and in private time was pretty much different; not only the hairstyle and clothes, but also the atmosphere around her. She smiled playfully and began: “Oops, excuse me,” as she pronounced apologetic words, she put her hand on her bun to untie her hair, allowing her to switch to her “private mode”. “Do you remember better now?” she asked, a little smile on her face.

“You?! But, why here… ?!” Ginoza seemed a bit rushed to see a person related to his “private” life while he was still on duty.

Natsuha closed her eyes a few seconds and was about to go on a detailed explanation, until a colleague rushed to her: “Toganezaki-sensei!! A patient’s state just deteriorated! We need your help to determine what’s better to do. Please come back!”  
She sighed and kept her calm as she was raising her hand to her colleague before addressing him with a calm but assured voice: “Alright, I’ll be coming back in a few minutes, please go back there and wait for me.”  
The colleague nodded before rushing back to work, and Natsuha turned back her look to Ginoza, who seemed more confused than ever. She stepped towards him and stood up in front him. “But, I thought you were Tanaka Haruhi?!” He began.  
Natsuha smiled widely while putting her hands back in her pockets and looked at him in the eyes before announcing: “Doctor and head of department of the hospital in charge of the victims taken care there, Toganezaki Natsuha.  _ Nice to meet you. _ ”

“You lied to me?!” Ginoza risposted.   
Natsuha put one of her fingers on her mouth before claiming: “I will explain later. For now I will return to my duty if you don’t mind,  _ Inspector Ginoza _ .”   
She then turned her back to him before leaving the area and going back to work.

Masaoka witnessed all of their interaction and let out in a loud voice, initiating a contact with his son: “Nobuchika, you’ve met such a fine woman and didn’t introduce her to me? I feel like tears will fall from my eyes.”

The inspector glared at the old man: “Don’t be so familiar with me, Enforcer.”


	4. About her and them

A few days later, Ginoza was still in the process to write the report about the Helmets case in order to submit it to his chief; however, data about the exact casualties were lacking as the victims were so diverse and spread all over the town: only the hospital could give them over to him…  _ but to whom could he ask these? _ That’s when he thought about Natsuha. He let out a long sigh, really reluctant about asking her about it… and actually really confused about her as they didn’t meet ever since… as he was busy with all the administrative papers related to the case, he didn’t even have time to drop by the net community and talk to her.

He looked for her name in the database, and widened his eyes seeing her impressive curriculum.  _ Who could believe such a skillful woman was giving such “miserable” advice?! _ He read a bit more before closing the window on his watch and going to Shion’s office so he could ask her for help. 

“Karanomori. I need your help.” he began, standing up in front of her.  
“Sure, what is it Inspector Ginoza?”  
“Do you know about Toganezaki Natsuha? Seems like you two share the same medical background.”  
“Oooh yes, how could I forget about the heiress of the Toganezaki family? Why are you asking?”  
“... I need some data about our previous case to write the report and she introduced herself to me. I don’t know who else I can ask these.”  
“Well, if you fill in an official request as an inspector, I think that acquiring some medical data to help with your investigation wouldn’t be a problem? How about it?”  
“You’re right, I’ll try.”

Natsuha got word by her secretary that an official request from an inspector to get medical data reached her. She smiled upon seeing the name of the inspector who requested it and told her secretary she would be the one taking care of it personally. She then replied by affirmative to the request and gave an official appointment to the inspector so he could retrieve the data he needs for his report. The day of the appointment, Ginoza goes to the hospital as part of his work day: as such, he was formally dressed and was wearing his inspector jacket. When he got to the front desk of the hospital and introduced himself while brandishing his police badge, Natsuha’s secretary went to welcome him and brought him to her desk. When he entered, he was surprised to see a spacious office space that was divided in two: one side was for sofas, and the other side was the office space with a desk and a computer, and a few plants that acted as a decoration. 

The secretary told Ginoza to wait on the sofa and then get out of the room. The inspector softly sat on the sofa, putting his forearms on the knees. Natsuha came in a few minutes later. While arriving in her office, the woman let out: “Oh, such a surprise to see you there Inspector Ginoza! Well, I was the one giving you that appointment though… No change since last time~ ? I don’t see you anymore on the forum, guess--”  
Ginoza suddenly stood up and addressed her: “Thanks for your cooperation, Toganezaki-sensei. I am here to retrieve the data as specified on my official request.”  
Natsuha sighed a bit and stepped forward before putting both of her hands behind her back and leaning a bit towards him: “No need to be this formal, there’s only the two of us here, right? How about breathing a bit of fresh air? The coffee here is top notch. I’ll treat you one cup as a hospitality gift.”  
Ginoza closed his eyes and opened them back some seconds after, before claiming: “No, thanks. I’m on duty right now, I can’t--”

Natsuha closed the distance with him: “Come ooon, don’t be so formal and relax a bit, I won’t bite! Plus I still have to explain about my name, right? One cup of coffee won’t do any harm, on the contrary it’ll even help you to be energized for your upcoming workday!”  
Ginoza let out a big sigh and stood still while Natsuha was about to get out of her office. When noticing he wasn’t following her, she turned her face to him and brandished one of her fingers playfully, before claiming: “By the way, my office’s door is set to lock when I get out, so you better follow me if you don’t want to be locked there~ ! It would bother me to have you get out by the window!”

Ginoza clicked his tongue before proceeding to follow Natsuha in her steps. While walking in the corridor towards the coffee machine, Ginoza was a bit behind her, following Natsuha. Since the spot they came from was the office's spot, it was pretty calm. Natsuha was wearing her white coat with her name badge visible, and was walking the hands in her coat’s pockets. Some medical staff were passing by as they walked down the corridor, and Ginoza noticed she was always greeted with high respect, though Natsuha didn’t seem to mind it a bit. She was replying to these by small head movements.

The man also noticed she kind of had the walk of a carefree child. More than walking, it was just like she was bouncing. Ginoza glared at her and began what could be compared to a police interrogation: “And so, why did you lie to me? How come you work in such a famous hospital but have time to give advice on the net? You have an impressive curriculum but you don’t seem to think high of it? And most of all, how come you--” as he was asking his flow of questions, his arm bumped on her back: Natsuha suddenly stopped walking.

Ginoza put one of his hands on his forehead and almost shouted: “Hey, look where you are walking-- !”

Natsuha brandished one of her fingers and claimed, ignoring him: “Here we are, Inspector Ginoza! What would you take? Cappuccino? Cafe latte? Ah, my favorite one is the coffee mixed with chestnut flavor!”

The man had a dead-serious expression, tainted with anger. He glared at her and Natsuha froze on the spot. “Uwah, you really need a coffee Inspector! I’ll order the strongest one so it gives you a great punch and makes your anger fade away!” while claiming this, she proceeded on pushing some buttons on the machine to make the coffee.

“Toganezaki-sensei…” began in a faint voice Ginoza.  
Natsuha turned her look to him. “Yes? Your coffee will be ready in a minute, sir!”  
“Please listen when I’m talking to you,” he almost ordered, glaring once more at her.  
Natsuha made an innocent face while putting one of her fingers next to her mouth and looked away like a little child: “I’ll be listening~ ! When we both have something to drink and when we breathe fresh air!”  
Ginoza let out a big sigh and put his head on the forehead while closing his eyes. Natsuha soon turned completely to him, giving him the coffee cup. “Here you go! Well then, let’s go outside?”  
The woman then led the way until the hospital’s little garden. There, they both leaned on some wall, next to one another. Some seconds of silence followed, where they could both feel the wind caressing their cheeks. Ginoza looked straight in front him before speaking out: “And so, what did you want to tell me?”

♪ BGM: Inochi no Arikata (Psycho-Pass OST)

Natsuha suddenly took a deep inspiration while lowering her head and tried to explain as briefly as possible about why she lied to him about her name. “As you know now, I come from the Toganezaki family. Almost all members are famous medical staff, and since I’m a blood-related member too, I’ve been told to follow their path. However, my dream was to become a dog therapist. My parents refused as soon as I talked about it though… in our family, having high accomplishments is a normal thing, as if taking the first place in a ranking or in studies was as natural as breathing. I was expected to take the top, like anyone else in the family… as such, the place I am now is the one I’ve been expected to take ever since I was born into this family…”

Ginoza was staring at her as he listened to her explanation carefully, while taking some sips of his cup of coffee.

“... and are you happy with that?” The inspector inquired, now staring at her face. Natsuha took some seconds to reply.  
“Of course I am,” she claimed, looking up to the sky, “The Sibyl System is supposed to bring everyone happiness, right? And that system determined I was a perfect fit for my current career. I wonder what it would have been for a supposed career as a dog therapist? However I couldn’t afford to throw away my passion in an effort to stay sane during my medicine studies, hence why I passed a certification behind the back of my parents... in any way, I didn’t lie to you out of pure maliciousness. It was to protect both my passion and my family’s reputation,” the woman continued explaining. She then brandished one of her fingers and closed her eyes before almost shouting, “but well, according to a certain coin head man, I’m not good enough as a dog therapist though!”

Ginoza clinged eyes before bowing a bit his head: “I apologize. I didn’t know you had such circumstances.”  
Natsuha’s eyes widened in surprise and she turned look to him: “Wow, you’re more honest than what I thought.”  
The man threw her in a monotone voice: “What kind of person did you think I am?”  
She simply replied while looking straight in front her: “Too serious and boring. Pretentious. Almighty. I could go on...”

Ginoza looked in front of him while hearing her reply and took the last sips of his cup of coffee before letting out: “... I see.”  
Natsuha then put her hand in one of her pockets before taking out an USB key from it. She then stepped forward Ginoza, and held out the object to him. “Here,” she announced, “the data you requested. There were lots of victims this time…”  
Ginoza reached out the key with his hand and thanked Natsuha before putting the key in his pocket. “Yeah, it was a massive case involving lots of innocent citizens after all... you and your colleagues did superb work. I am grateful you managed to take care of them.”  
Natsuha smiled a little: “There is nothing to be grateful for, we did our work, that’s all. Oh, and I almost forgot, a little bonus.”  
Saying this, Natsuha sent Ginoza's watch some information. The inspector opened it and made an interrogative face: “What is this… ?”

Natsuha looked at him in the eyes: “My personal contact information. If you need any more data in the future, it’d be easier to contact me directly instead of filling an official request through the Ministry, right?”  
“Well, you got a point but…” began Ginoza, before she stopped him.  
“Also, it’ll be easier to plan out for the next offline meetings! And also for our studying sessions!”  
“Studying sessions?” Inquired the inspector.  
Natsuha leaned towards and brandished a finger in front of his face, with a pouting face: “I expect you to tell me thoroughly what is “wrong” in my way to give advice about dogs! So I can improve and do better!”

Ginoza glared at her hearing about the purpose of the “studying sessions” and put back his glasses: “Then I suppose you already know about your weaknesses. You should prepare yourself because I won’t hold back. I’m a very strict teacher.”

Natsuha imitated a military salute and addressed him with a wide smile: “I’ll be prepared, Inspector Ginoza!”

She swore she saw a little smile on his face as soon as she said that… but his face remained as serious as ever when she looked more carefully. “However, that will be for later. I’m busy with my job and don’t know when my next day-off will be but I will contact you as soon as I can.”


	5. First(s) and last(s)

Ginoza ends up contacting Natsuha a few days later. He tells her he had a bit of time to drop by the forum and listed points that could be improved in her advice. He then tells he has a day-off soon, and that he’s available in case she wants to meet a bit, as a thanks for providing him confidential medical data as he is aware it wasn’t data that was easily obtainable. Natsuha replies she will make herself available the same day, and they discuss the meeting details.

The day of the meeting, Ginoza arrives at the meeting point a bit earlier than the hour planned with her. He wasn’t experienced in meeting with someone from the opposite sex so he tried to ask advice to Kogami about what to wear and how to behave but Kogami told him not to think too much about it after Ginoza told him it wasn’t a date, only a “studying session”. As such, Ginoza was wearing a casual-formal outfit. He probably wasn’t thinking much about it. As he was deep in thoughts about work and his dog Dime, he heard a voice calling him with an outraged tone.

“Ginoza Nobuchika!”

As he turned to look at the one who called him, he saw Natsuha, pointing her finger to him with a pouty face. She was wearing high heels, a skirt, and a cute top. Ginoza blackoutted seeing her, and was frozen on the spot. He managed to articulate: “Toganezaki… Natsuha…”, just like he wanted to imitate her way of calling him. Natsuha put the back of her hands on her hips and rushed to a closer distance from him. She then almost shouted to his face: “It’s great you arrived before me, just like a proper gentleman! Somehow it’s quite unexpected of you but I admit one of your great points here~ !” She then stared at his face just like she was waiting for something.

Ginoza felt confused as it was the first time he experienced something like this. “I- Is there something on my face… ?” he slowly asked.  
Natsuha screwed up her eyes for a few seconds and brandished one of her fingers while closing her eyes. She claimed: “Listen up, Ginoza Nobuchika! You seem to be less experienced than me when it comes to this so let me tell you: when the lady appears in front of you at the beginning of an outing, it should be custom to tell something about her outfit!”

Ginoza seemed to have no expression as Natsuha didn’t see anything through his glasses lenses. He stepped back slowly, almost disgusted by Natsuha’s face he found too close to his. After some seconds of silence between the two of them amongst the crowd noise, Ginoza looked away and let out in a loud voice enough for her to hear: “Well… it’s a… pretty much ostentatious outfit if I should say…”  
Natsuha let out a scream of surprise after hearing this sentence and snapped out: “Excuse me?! Are you sure you see well through your glasses?!” As she said these words, she reached out to his glasses and quickly took them off his face.

“Say it’s pretty or something at least!” Natsuha continued, holding his glasses in one of her hands.  
Ginoza glared at her in anger and shouted, ignoring her question: “Give them back!!!”  
The woman froze in horror at the sight of Ginoza’s angry expression. She only had the intention to tease him a bit and didn’t expect it would trigger this kind of reaction in him. Natsuha figured out she went too far this time and that these glasses were pretty important to him. She pouted with what seemed to be teary eyes and slowly handed them back: “Here… I’m sorry…”

She then lowered her head like a little child who was just scolded and Ginoza took back slowly his glasses before putting them back and letting out: “No… I'm the one one who should apologize. I lost my composure just now, I’m sorry.”

Natsuha addressed him with a sad little smile and then led the way to a nice cafe. On the way, next to each other, they talk a bit. Ginoza looked straight in front of him before he confessed: “This outfit…” he begins, before diverting his look, “it suits you well.”  
Natsuha’s face illuminated with a warm smile as she heard these words, and she simply let out with a proud tone: “See it’s not that difficult, Ginoza Nobuchika!”  
The man stared at her outfit some seconds before he asked bluntly: “But… did you need to wear such a nice outfit when it’s not even a date?”   
Natsuha needed some seconds to proceed that question in her mind before she bursted into laughter: “What are you even saying? It may be a nice outfit but not one I would wear on a date… ! Ha ha ha… it’s a pretty casual outfit you know?”  
Ginoza put back his glasses, kind of ashamed of his own lack of experience with women: “... I see. I didn’t know.”  
Natsuha then stared at him before putting her hand in front of her mouth with a playful expression: “So it seems our almighty inspector doesn't have that much experience with women huh… fufu.”

The man glared at her: “Shush already…”

In the cafe, they both ordered a drink and sat. Ginoza began to spread and open some books he brought about dog therapy and began to explain to Natsuha what he thought to be “wrong” in her advice. While Natsuha was listening carefully, she couldn’t help but assert her own way of thinking: “Your way of thinking is too theoretical. As much as relying on books and theoretical knowledge is a way, I fiercely believe that as much as each human is different and unique, the same applies to animals, and particularly dogs. You can’t tell that only one solution applies to one specific case. Other factors must be considered, and that’s why I always ask so many questions to the people in my community before tailoring my advice to their situation.”

Ginoza was speechless to see the woman he thought being superficial and mediocre in dog therapy despite her brilliant curriculum being this serious. He reconsidered his opinion about her: she indeed deserved the high respect he witnessed when he visited her office at the hospital. After that, they continued to discuss and exchange their ideas, and Natsuha was impressed at the amount of knowledge he held in the field, considering his primary job. That’s when she suggested him to be an “helper” to give advice in her community as the number of followers increased and that she couldn’t possibly afford to reply to them all in a reasonable amount of time. Ginoza said he would consider helping when he has time and when he feels like it.

After some time, Ginoza announced he didn’t find anything else to add to his explanations and added it was a fruitful time where they would both discuss and debate like two grown-up adults. Natsuha smiled and told him she was also glad to have been able to exchange points of views with him. They then talked a bit about work, and Natsuha asked when would be their next studying session, at which Ginoza replied: “I don’t know. I took the last opportunity I could for now… the case we’re working on seems to reach its turning point, I feel like I’ll grow busier…”

Natsuha smiled warmly at what seemed to be a complaint from him and brandished her finger, claiming: “I hope you won’t say stuff like “it’s the last time we see each other”... ! Isn’t that what detectives say to their close ones when they’re working on a big case? I’m teary when I see scenes like these in movies! It’s too emotional! It was just as if they wouldn’t be coming back alive or something!” As Natsuha finished to say her piece, she pouted like a little child.

Ginoza then directed his look at her face: “Well,” he began, with what Natsuha saw as a sad smile, “you never know with this job… I’m not a detective appearing in movies so I can’t say but, it may or may not be the last time we can see each other…”

“Aaaah!!” screamed Natsuha while pointing his finger to him, “don’t you go and raise a red flag, Ginoza Nobuchika! I’m still expecting you to share your knowledge to me in the future too! It’s frustrating to admit but you’ve got lots of what I didn’t think about... I’m realizing how much I’m lacking knowledge… haaa...” she finished, holding her forehead.  
Ginoza let out in a monotone way: “Well, you can’t expect detaining all possible knowledge in this world after all… you’re only a human being.”  
The woman shook her fists angrily: “I know but it’s still frustrating!! I’ll continue to learn lots so I can add-on in our next meetings!”  
He let out in a relieved tone: “That’s promising. Then I’ll be lending you this book. It’s one of my favorite ones to learn more about dogs’ way of thinking. You can just give it back the next time we see each other.”  
Natsuha snapped her fingers: “Oh, as expected! So you’re not raising a red flag like earlier and assume we will indeed see each other again! That’s the spirit, mister the inspector!”

Their meeting ended in a friendly way.

Ginoza suggested escorting her until the train station, and she accepted. Before separating ways, Natsuha addressed him with a warm smile: “Thanks for today, I had fun. Hope to see you again soon, Ginoza Nobu--”  
The man stopped her with a hand gesture before she even had the time to finish her sentence: “Stop calling me that way, it feels oppressive.”  
She chuckled before asking: “Then what would you like? Coin head man? Mister the almighty inspector?”  
He glared at her and she suggested another way to call him while putting a finger next to her mouth, while looking at his face: “Inspector Ginoza?”  
The man closed his eyes in approval and claimed: “Well, I can live with that.”  
Natsuha then rushed towards the station and turned back to wave to Ginoza: “Thanks for today, Inspector Ginoza!”

The man waved back discreetly and that’s how they parted ways that day. 

The days after the studying session, Natsuha was in a very good mood. She couldn’t stop studying more about dog therapy and was often surprising herself by chuckling in imagining “how Ginoza would bow to her and crawl to her feet after fully acknowledging how skilled and amazing she is”. Picturing his image in her mind made her heart flutter, for some reason. Everytime she was thinking about him being all submissive to her, or even only thinking about him, she could feel her heart beating faster, while feeling warm imagining all of those scenarios.

At some point, she was restless and was checking on a regular basis her watch, waiting for him to contact her. She was eager to meet him again, and her feelings towards him began to unconsciously change…

One day, she received a call and her watch displayed his name. Her heart skipped a beat when noticing he was the one calling her. As it was during work, she kind of snapped out alone in her office space as she thought he was calling her for another “studying session”. She waited a few seconds before picking up.

“Hello?” She simply said, not letting show any particular emotion, even though she was balanced between being ecstatic to receive a call from him (for some reason) and irritated he called her while she was still at work.  
“Toganezaki-sensei. It’s Ginoza Nobuchika from the Public Safety Bureau.”  
“Your name is literally displaying on my watch so I know that, you idiot…” she let out with a pouty face, before telling with a louder voice: “You got some guts to call me while I’m at work! You could’ve at least wait until--”   
She was about to reprimand him longer until he interrupted her:  
“I need data,” he stated.  
“Excuse me,  _ what _ ?” Natsuha raised an eyebrow.  
“You told me I could contact you if I ever needed medical data for my investigation reports,” he calmly reminded her.  
“... oh, that,” Natsuha let out in a disappointed tone, believing he was calling for something else.  
“Will transfer you the details of my request. I need them asap so hurry it up,” he ordered her.

Some signs of irritation appeared on Natsuha’s face when hearing how condescending and rude he was towards her. She faked a smile before directing to him:  
“Excuse me Inspector Ginoza?”  
“What?”  
“Should I remind you I’m also working and have a heavy workload?”  
“... deal with it yourself. Anyway that was all I wanted to say. Later.”

He then hung up. Natsuha snapped out  _ again _ alone in her office thinking again about how rude he was towards her and pouted when realizing she was feeling slight bliss seeing his face, even if it was only a few minutes. Despite stating how busy she was, she prioritized sending him the data he asked for, convincing herself it was all to “get rid of this task asap” with some blushes on the face.

After that call, Ginoza solicited her help a few times more. Every time he was calling, Natsuha was kind of getting her hopes high, somehow wanting him to evoke their next meeting in person. However, he was exclusively calling to ask her help getting medical data for his reports, which always disappointed her. She tried to bring up the subject by herself, not making it too obvious she was looking forward to their next meeting.

“... Inspector Ginoza,” she dared to interrupt him in his “business” call one of the times he called her to ask for data again.  
“What?” He directed her with a curt tone, irritated he couldn’t hang up even after finishing to state his request.  
“I apologize in advance for the private statement, but my community gained lots of new followers and I’ve been praised lots more for my advice!” She proudly claimed while closing her eyes.  
“... and so?”   
“Well, I guess I’m a bit grateful to you and that book you’ve lent me for adding in my current knowledge...”  
“Oh yeah, true you’re holding my book hostage… damn it…” he reacted, seeming to ignore Natsuha’s “grateful feelings” towards him.

“You’re right~ !” She enthusiastically announced, visibly ecstatic to have opened a path to talk about their next meeting. Natsuha could see him diverting his look, visibly irritated.  
“It’s a really good book, I kind of took a liking to it. Wonder if I should keep it to myself~ ?” She continued with a playful tone.  
Ginoza suddenly looked back at the camera before snapping out while frowning the eyebrows:  “Absolutely not! It’s  _ my _ book!”   
“Eeeh~ Then you know what to do to get it back I suppose~ ?” Natsuha said while brandishing the book in front of the camera, playfully kissing it once.  
“If I get back this book with dog-eared pages, you won’t get away this easily,” the inspector threatened her.  
“Oh my,” she exclaimed while putting a hand in front of her month, “how scary inspector Ginoza~ !”  
“Stop making me waste my time, geez…” he sighed while closing his eyes.

Natsuha felt she was hitting a wall and decided to be a little more obvious. She diverted her look and put the book in front of her mouth before glancing at the camera and stated: “You know, if you want to get it back in the same condition as you lent it to me, it would be better in person than me sending it by mail…”   
“I know!” Ginoza protested, “but like I told you the case we’re investigating now is reaching its turning point…” he held his forehead with his hand, before taking a determined and kind of haughty stature.

“Listen up!” Ginoza pointed his finger towards the camera, “I am  _ only _ lending you this book, and I am going to get it back  _ for sure _ !”  
“Really~ ?” Natsuha seemed to enjoy playing around with him.  
“As of now, I don’t know when I can, but  _ definitely _ ! Until then, no messing around with it, alright?! Well then, bye!”

Ginoza then hung up and Natsuha couldn’t help but smile and let out faint chuckles when acknowledging his last sentence as a promise to meet again. She could feel her cheeks being warm and her heart beating fast… of excitement, of course!(?)

_ She couldn’t wait to meet him again. _

\-- However, she was far from expecting the next time meeting him in person would be in  _ such _ circumstances...


	6. As if the sky was falling

That day, she was browsing through the book Ginoza lent her as well as some web resources. She was sitting in her office, swamped with administrative work but had planned to go back to “practical” work later on. Even though she was busy with her job, every day was fun and fruitful to her as she could expand her field of knowledge while still feeling the adrenaline of work. She had a little smile on her face thinking about what she could talk about to Ginoza at their next meeting. 

Natsuha was lost in time as she was deep in thoughts about the knowledge she was absorbing and the upcoming work. That’s when an alarm reached her watch: it was signaling an emergency. While it was custom for all head of departments to receive such alarm when patients needing emergency care reached the hospital, she had a very bad feeling about it, for some reason.

“To all heads of departments: one patient needing immediate and emergency care reached hospital. Important loss of blood, left arm severely injured and surely needing amputation. Needing immediate assistance and surgery from the competent department doctors. Sending you over his vital statistics immediately.”

Her eyes widened in horror after seeing the patient’s vital statistics sheet. 

_ It was Ginoza’s one. _

_ The words he directed her during their studying session came back in her mind: “it may or may not be the last time we meet each other.” _

She stood up in a rush while slapping her desk with her two hands, just as if all her forces left her at once, just like she wouldn’t be able to stand up on her two feet if she didn’t have any support. At first she thought it was a lie, a nightmare; or even that she was so eager to meet him that even his name was haunting her. As she was trying to process what she had just seen, the alarm continued to ring in her office and the voice continued to report about the patient’s state. Her body was acting on its own now. Leaving everything behind her, she put on her long white coat before she ran to the emergency box, where all patients reaching the hospital though ambulances were brought first before being dispatched to the competent department according to their state.

When she just arrived at the box, all she could see were doctors hastily transporting him on a stretcher to the surgery room. It was like a flash before her eyes, but she could recognize Ginoza.  _ It wasn’t a lie _ . She could see, just an instant, his inspector jacket tainted with blood. He was connected with a respirator. All Natsuha could do now was to follow the stretcher the most she could, until some doctors told her not to interfere with them as it wasn’t her department’s speciality.

In front of the surgery room, she could see a member of her family, an uncle. He was putting on gloves and preparing for the surgery. Natsuha could distinguish the conversation between him and the nurses:

“Doctor, this man is a PSB inspector. He got heavily injured on duty. We’ve performed first aid intervention on him so his state is now under control but he lost lots of blood due to a severe arm injury.”  
“Alright,” claimed the doctor, “I will now prepare for the surgery.”  
As he said those words, he entered the surgery room.

Natsuha stood still and her pupils were trembling. More than feeling her body didn’t belong to her anymore, her mind was now blank, still under the shock of what she had seen. She surprised herself feeling a tear falling from her eyes, and rolling on her cheek. On the line of work, over the years, she had seen dozens of people dying, being in a critical state, having incurable diseases, and heavy injuries that led to death… she thought she was “used” to all of it, but… this time was none like the others.

_ He was special to her. _

* * *

_ A few days later.  _

Natsuha learnt Ginoza’s surgery was a success and that his arm could be replaced by a prosthetic one. His state was now stabilized and he was resting in a hospital room, waiting to wake up. She also learnt that his crime coefficient raised at a level he was now considered as a latent criminal and that he’d have to go to a rehabilitation center after his state allows it. Natsuha was assigned to his care as her crime coefficient is well-known amongst her colleagues to not raise this easily. All of them feared their coefficient could be affected if they were to interact with a latent criminal, may it be patient or not. 

While waiting for him to wake up, Natsuha was performing the usual care and check-ups as part of her job. She came up to sympathize with him while seeing him in such a “weakened” state and was hoping he’d wake up quickly so she could give him back the book he had lent her.

When he opened his eyes a few days after, Natsuha was in the middle to change his drip. He moved his pupils to the side and managed to distinguish her silhouette. He could articulate: “Toganezaki-sensei… ?” 

Natsuha was so focused on changing his drip she was surprised to hear him talking. “Oh, Ginoza-kun! Good morning! How are you?”  
The man seemed to be still weakened by the surgery and the days spent there. He let out: “I feel okay... “  
Natsuha had a little smile as she put up his hospital bed so he could be in a sitting position. “That’s great to see you with open eyes, Ginoza-kun. Alright, let us perform the usual check-up! I’m going to check your eyes. If it hurts, tell me.”

Telling that, she got closer to him to surround one of his eyes with her finger and thumb, before softly dilating it and putting some light in his pupils. While she was performing this task, Ginoza had some seconds to unconsciously stare at her. His look went on her work hairstyle, her faint makeup, her eyes, lips… he even had the time to quickly glance at her collarbone… which made his heart beat faster, for some reason. Natsuha finished her check-up in the meantime.

“Alright,” she announced, “there is no problem.” 

She then stayed a bit in the close position she had with him and stared at his face. 

“What are you doing?” asked the man.  
“Nah, I was just thinking how refreshing it is to see you without glasses. You have really pretty eyes!” She claimed, before softly moving aside his long fringe with her fingers. “Such a waste you have to hide them behind glasses,” she finished, smiling softly, her eyes locking on his.  
Ginoza glared at her before looking away and used his hand to put hers away from his face. “I don’t think it’s within your duties to comment on such a thing, Toganezaki-sensei.”  
Natsuha let out a scream of surprise before standing up: “Oh yes, you’re right!” she exclaimed. 

As her face was still close to his, he could notice she had bags under her eyes: “You tired?” he inquired bluntly. Natsuha let out a little “Eh?” of interrogation before she looked away, apparently panicked: “Oooh this… ? I must’ve been too busy with work those past days… ! Ha ha ha…”

Ginoza screwed up his eyes as he thought it was fishy but didn’t dig any further. She moved around in the room, onto another matter.

He stared at her back, still sitting on his bed. After some seconds, she suddenly exclaimed: “Oh by the way, I didn’t know you were into high schoolers!”   
The man was perplexed: “Excuse me?”  
She turned her look to him before claiming: “When you were sleeping, a young and cute high schooler was visiting you eeeevery day!! She didn’t introduce herself to me even though I came upon her several times… she is blonde and has pretty blue eyes--”  
Ginoza closed his eyes, let out a long sigh and stopped Natsuha with a hand gesture before putting his hand on his forehead, telling: “Ah, that. Long story short, she is like a little sister to me,” before murmuring to himself while looking away: “what is this idiot’s doing… high school is an important period but she is wasting her time visiting me… am going to tell Tomokazu-san later…”

Natsuha smiled softly: “Little sister, huh… I see. It’s quite unexpected coming from you, Ginoza-kun!”  
The man seemed to have a pouty face as he directed to her: “I was wondering since earlier… what’s with your way of calling me… ?”  
She put her hands on her hips and claimed: “I learnt it only recently, you’re younger than me and yet I addressed you thinking you were older, I can’t believe it…”. When she finished to tell her piece, she let out a long sigh and put a hand on her forehead. She then had a saddened face as she let out in a smaller voice: “... and I can’t possibly call you ‘inspector’ now…”  
Ginoza made an interrogative face: “What did you say?”  
Nasuha agitated her hands in a panicked way and quickly announced: “Oh no, nothing! You have an appointment ready with Mukojima-sensei later, he’ll tell you everything you need to know!”  
He put the tips of his fingers around his nose, before telling himself: “I see…”

Later, as planned, Ginoza is going to Mukojima-sensei’s office to have a therapy session. There, the therapist explains to him about his crime coefficient and tells him he’ll have to resign from being an inspector as it has raised too much for him to continue in this position, about the rehabilitation center and some other things. Ginoza was listening to all of this with an expressionless face, whilst seeming to be tainted by some kind of nostalgia, or sadness. The therapist then proceeds to a classical session and somewhere in the middle, he evokes an unusual subject, with a smirk.

“Toganezaki Natsuha,” the therapist suddenly announces.  
Deep in thought, Ginoza only began to react to this name. “Eh… ?” he let out.  
“She is a very skillful and proficient doctor. Not only has she been an excellent student during her university days, but she is also caring and really suited for her career. Most doctors here respect her very much, and well, I’ve heard some colleagues are head over heels for her…”  
“Why are you telling me this now?” inquired Ginoza.  
“Haha, well, she has been caring for you ever since you’ve been hospitalized there, and even last night she didn’t get much sleep as she was waiting for you to wake up! After knowing her for years, I know it’s not unusual for her to be caring as it’s in her nature, but it’s the first time I’m seeing her  _ this _ caring, and especially sacrificing sleep for one patient!” He finished, looking at Ginoza with malicious eyes.   
The former inspector diverted his look: “Oh, I see,” he simply commented.  
“Don’t you think it’s intriguing, or should I say,  _ interesting _ … ?” The therapist asked with a side smile.  
“What do you mean? She was just doing her work, that’s all.” The man with black hair screwed up his eyes.  
“It shouldn’t be my place to say this but in my opinion, she wasn’t  _ just _ doing her work…” he threw his patient.

After the meeting with the therapist, Ginoza came back to his room. He was still required to move around with a wheel chair in waiting for his complete rehabilitation. Before entering, he saw Natsuha sleeping in his room, sitting on a chair. Her two hands were in between his thighs, and her head was going up and down, following her breathing rhythm. Without thinking, he moved in front of her and stared at her sleeping face. That’s when he remembered the therapist’s words and he looked away, visibly flustered. He stayed that way a few seconds more until he noticed Natsuha’s head was doing wider movements. He feared she would fall from the chair and decided to pull her shoulders towards him.

Her head was now resting on his chest.   
“You should sleep in a proper room, geez,” he murmured with a little smile.

Natsuha slowly opened her eyes after noticing her head was resting on a warm surface. She looked up and saw Ginoza’s face: this was enough for her to completely panic and she stood up in a rush with some faint blushes on the face. “G- G- Ginoza-kun?! You’re already back from your meeting with Mukojima-sensei?!”  
“Yeah,” he directed her, “seems like it ended earlier?”  
“O- Oh, I see,” simply replied Natsuha, embarrassed she had seen her in such a “disgraceful” position.   
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping properly?” He asked, while directing his wheelchair towards his bed, “It’s none of my business if you mess up at work afterwards.”  
Here went again Ginoza with one of his bad habits: blaming others first before even thanking them when being granted some kindness.  
The doctor blankly stared at Ginoza some seconds before letting out: “Oh you’re right… after seeing you are doing good I suddenly… feel sleepy…” Natsuha began to fall forward and the man panicked, “Hey!” he managed to scream, before catching her in his arms.

“Like I said you should sleep in a proper room!” He let out in a loud voice, flustered by their current position. Fortunately for him, another doctor was passing by, alerted by Ginoza’s loud voice. They came into the room and he explained the situation. Natsuha was safely brought out of the room and told to sleep properly.

The next day, Natsuha came to his room for the usual check-up. He had recovered for most part already and it was almost time for him to get mental care in a rehabilitation center. When she entered his room, he was reading a book.  
“Hey,” he greeted, “did you get proper sleep this time?” he threw at her, almost jokingly.   
Natsuha’s prideful nature didn’t bear someone out of her family saw her in such a “pitiful” state that is sleeping; she was also bitter he was the one reminding her to sleep, and sighed a bit while being reminded of her habit to not know her boundaries.  
“Thanks I did,” she quickly said, before bowing a bit to him, “I’m really sorry for yesterday. I should’ve known I reached my limits.”  
Ginoza made a hand gesture. “You don’t have to apologize. Humans need sleep and you’re a human being too. But well, it’s true knowing of your limits is better…”

Natsuha addressed him with a little smile before telling him she came in for the usual check-up. He nodded before putting back the book he was reading on the bedside table. Natsuha threw him an interrogative look. “You can see without your glasses?” She bluntly asked.  
Ginoza widened his eyes at the question before looking at her with a saddened smile: “I’ve got perfect vision with both eyes, however… because I disliked my eyes for some reason I was wearing glasses until now…”  
The last part of his sentence made Natsuha widen her eyes in disbelief: “What?! How?! Then when you snapped at me when I took off your glasses this time-- wait?! How come you dislike your eyes while they’re  _ this _ pretty?!”

He looked away with the same saddened smile and simply said: “... I’ll maybe tell you about it later,” before looking back at her, “more importantly, the check-up, right?”

The doctor was frozen some seconds before she proceeded to the check-up. 

When it was over, she took the opportunity to give him back the book he lent her. He thanked her with a little smile and they talked a bit. Natsuha was sitting somewhere around his bed and lowered her head, visibly affected. “I suppose you now know about your crime coefficient… and your position as inspector…”  
The man blankly stared at her before beginning: “Yeah, the therapist told me,” he announced, before continuing, “but well, it could’ve ended being worse so I should be grateful I’m still alive… thanks to him…”  
Natsuha inquired while tilting her head: “Thanks to him?”  
He smiled at her with a saddened face: “Nah, it was only something I told to myself, don’t worry about it.”  
After some seconds of silence, Ginoza asked her: “Are you fine being near me? I’m a latent criminal now, so you should get proper mental care after every time you visit my room, right?”  
Natsuha slowly articulated, as if something was blocked in her throat: “... ever since I remember, my crime coefficient isn’t the kind to raise high even if I live emotional struggles…”, she claimed, before looking at his face, “that’s why I’ve been assigned to your care. Other doctors are fearing their crime coefficient will raise if they get near to you,” she finished with a faint voice.  
The man closed his eyes in approval: “Well, figured so.”  
Natsuha addressed him with a soft tone: “I’m fine so before worrying about me, you should focus on your complete recovery, Ginoza-kun!”

He had a little relieved smile and looked at her: “Yeah, thanks.”

Ginoza stayed at hospital a few days more until he recovered completely physically and was ready to go to the rehabilitation center. Before leaving, he visited Natsuha’s office, wearing a simple white formal shirt and pants. She was about going out of her office when she came upon him.

“Toganezaki-sensei,” he let out with a little smile, his hands in the pockets.  
“Ginoza-kun!” Natsuha rushed towards him. “What is it? You could’ve waited until I came to your room for the check--” she began to say, before she slowly remembered, preventing her from finishing her sentence.  
He had a relieved face as he announced: “Did you already forget? I’m being discharged today.”  
“Ah, yeah, that’s right…” she looked away, suddenly feeling teary.  
“What’s with this face? It almost looks like you’re sad I’m leaving.”  
Natsuha’s heart skipped a beat and she rushed, denying everything with blushing cheeks: “N- Not at all!! Don’t get too full of yourself, you idiot coin head man!!”  
“Really?” He inquired, “But well, as for me I should admit I’m a bit sad I won’t be able to have anymore the care of a brilliant doctor like you,” he honestly confessed.  
Natsuha put her hands on the hips upon hearing that and tried as much as possible to keep her composure while her cheeks were feeling hot: “W- Well, of course! You won’t have the same care anywhere else!” She proudly claimed.

Ginoza smiled a bit and looked at her in the eyes: “In any way, I wanted to thank you for everything until today. It’s thanks to you I recovered completely. I can now start my mental rehabilitation at ease.”  
Natsuha gave back his smile: “I only did my job, you don’t have to thank me for that… it’s a relief you completely recovered, physically at least.”  
Ginoza suddenly remembered again the words of his therapist and couldn’t help but let out a faint chuckle. “You  _ only _ did your job, huh…” he murmured with a little smile.  
Natsuha pouted and she agitated her fists like a little child: “What are you mumbling?”   
“No, nothing,” the man closed his eyes in relief some seconds, before reopening them.

He continued: “Well then, I’ll be going. Until next time.”  
Natsuha closed distance with him and asked with teary eyes: “When is ‘next time’?”  
Ginoza briefly lifted his shoulders in sign of confusion and replied: “Who knows? If you want to, it could be anytime after my rehabilitation is over. Though I don’t know for sure what’s awaiting me after…”  
She lowered her head and slowly nodded before redirecting her look to him. Ginoza turned back to her and waved with his prosthetic arm. 

As she watched him leaving, she pouted.

_ “So in the end I’ll be still waiting for you, you idiot…” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "young and cute high schooler" Natsuha is evoking in this chapter is one of my other Psycho Pass OCs, Yakushi Ema! ♥ She'll make her "true" appearance a bit later hehe ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	7. New beginning

**[ The events described below take place during the year gap between S1 and S2 ]**

While Ginoza was undergoing mental rehabilitation, Natsuha continued to work. She had the opportunity to visit him once briefly, at the rehabilitation center. It was custom for the hospital to conduct “after care” and check on the patients severely injured to ensure they didn’t keep any aftereffect of the surgery. In Ginoza’s case, it was particularly valid as she was asked to check out whether he could efficiently use his prosthetic arm. Natsuha was suddenly asked by a colleague to check on him as she was in charge of his regular check-ups during the time he was hospitalized. As she wasn’t expecting to meet him again this soon, she was surprised to be appointed to this check-up. Her visit took place towards the end of the first month (out of the two) Ginoza spent in the center. ****

The day she had chosen to visit the rehabilitation center, she felt nervous and restless at the same time. She was eager to meet him again but didn’t know in which state she would see him again, as she had in mind mental rehabilitation centers were like prison for latent criminals. She gulped and entered the center, introduced herself to the front desk and asked to see him at the visiting room. She was told to wait a bit. ****

When he finally appeared from the other side of the glass window that separated them, Natsuha widened her eyes. She was used to see him in hospital clothes, but seeing him on the other side of the visitor’s room glass window wearing similar clothes felt weird for some reason. They sat facing each other. ****

“Ginoza-kun…” Natsuha let out with a sad smile.  
“Hello, Toganezaki-sensei. I didn’t expect to see you there,” he greeted.  
“How are you?” She inquired.  
“As you can see,” he stated with a little smile.  
“... you seem tired,” Natsuha noticed.  
“Yeah, I don’t manage to sleep too well those past days… anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”  
Natsuha strengthened the grip of her fists on her thighs, before telling: “I… I came to check out if your prosthetic arm is working properly.”  
“Oh, sorry for the trouble,” he apologized, before raising his left arm and moving the fingers. “As you can see it’s working well,” he announced, directing her an assured smile.  
“That’s great,” Natsuha gave back his smile.  
“Is that all you wanted to ask?” He asked gently.  
“A-ah, I actually have an entire medical questionnaire to fill in, if you don’t mind… ?” She directed him a worried look, thinking it would annoy him.  
“Of course I don’t mind. I have all the time ahead of me,” he let out with a relieved tone while closing his eyes. Deep inside, he was relieved he could spend more time with her: it was better than just spending time on a bed inside a small cell, surrounded by latent criminals. ****

The doctor pulled out of her bag some pieces of papers before asking Ginoza some questions about his health, diet habits, etc. He was replying with short but concise replies, which helped a lot Natsuha in compiling his replies on the papers. After some minutes of Q &A which could be assimilated to a police interrogation, Natsuha gathered the pieces of papers and announced with a warm smile: “Alright that will be all, thanks for your time.” ****

“Don’t mention it,” he simply replied. ****

They then unconsciously stared at each other for long seconds, during which Natsuha noticed the bags under his eyes. Not only tired from spending sleepless nights, it seemed more like he was exhausted and distressed by all the days he had spent there already. Natsuha felt her chest tightening and her throat knotting when noticing the sorrow in his look. It didn’t seem like he was there. Now that they weren’t in the middle of a discussion, he was just looking at her with a lifeless look. ****

Just like spontaneously, she raised her hand and called out his name: “Ginoza-kun.”  
He startled a bit upon hearing his name and slightly tilted his head while looking at her.  
  
****She softly put the palm of her right hand against the glass window, and directed him a warm smile: “I don’t know if you need to hear this now but… hang in there.”  
The man widened his eyes upon hearing these unexpected words of encouragement. He smiled a bit and put the palm of his right hand on the glass window at his turn, matching with Natsuha’s hand position. “Yeah I will,” he told her with an assured tone, locking his gaze on her eyes.  
  
****She stared at him a bit in that same position, before feeling her heartbeats increasing, leading her to divert her look with a flustered face. She then looked back at him with wet eyes and blushing cheeks, letting out in a sweet tone: “I’ll be waiting for you, okay?”  
Ginoza widened his eyes once more, confused and disturbed by both her expression and sweet tone. He surprised himself finding them endearing, putting this thought on the account of his weakened emotional state. He smiled at her softly and replied: “Yeah...” ****

She then closed her eyes of relief before putting away her hand from the glass window and gathered her belongings. While standing up, she directed him these words: “Please take care and remember to sleep and eat properly, alright?”  
The man slowly nodded while still being seated and Natsuha simply waved at him with a warm smile when seeing it. She then turned back to him to leave.

When coming back to his cell, Ginoza leaned on one of the walls, his right hand tightening his chest and his left hand covering his face. “W- What is this… both my chest and my face feel like burning… my heartbeats are incredibly fast too… t-this is surely due to my weakened emotional state, right… ? I should get better after sleeping a bit…” ****

As he was thinking that way, he laid on the bed, closing his eyes in hope to calm down the drumming beats in his chest... ****

_Outside the center._

Natsuha walked slowly towards the exit of the center, as if she wanted to remain there the longer time possible. As she crossed the door leading outside, she stood still some seconds in front of the entrance, before joining her hands in front of her mouth. She couldn’t help but chuckle while a sweet fever invaded her head, warming her cheeks and chest. ****

This was the only visit she paid him during his mental rehabilitation. ****

After that visit, she read papers about latent criminals, being curious about this status since she never bothered knowing more about them. That’s when she learnt this status was granting little freedom to those having it… and she worried about Dime. She then had the idea to use her family’s influence and funds as well as her status as a head of department in a hospital to build a park project where latent criminals could walk their dogs with more freedom than if they were out in the town. Of course, she had consulted several people to help her set proper boundaries and build a solid project that had high chances of being approved by the competent department. It took several weeks and some hurdles before her project was approved. Thanks to the connections she had thanks to the net community she made as a side hobby, she could safely find supporters and a proper place so the park could be built. ****

To get the right and access to the park, latent criminals have to register in advance for a date and time slot with their name and some other information. As the project’s initiator, Natsuha had the upper hand to approve the bookings. She was hoping Ginoza would know about the park’s existence and book a slot to walk Dime… so maybe they could meet again. Natsuha didn’t know how long his rehabilitation would last nor what he would be doing after it would be done. She couldn’t even contact him since his demotion of the status of inspector because his watch was inactive. That visit to the rehabilitation center was the only moment she met him, a month ago. She was already missing him and... ****

There was _only hope_ at that moment. ****

The park safely opened and Natsuha could receive gradually some bookings from the latent criminals. Since it is a status given only looking at their crime coefficient and not if they really had a “criminal behaviour”, Natsuha wasn’t scared to drop by from time to time to meet the dog owners and discuss with them. She only got positive feedback about the initiative and receiving warm thanks and encouragement from the dog owners was really heartwarming to her. Day by day, she was monitoring the bookings list to hopefully see Ginoza’s name appearing. ****

Finally, the day she has been waiting for has happened. While browsing the booking list for the park everyday like usual, one of the names she saw made her heart skip a beat. ****

“Ginoza Nobuchika.” ****

Her eyes were round like balls as she noticed it, and she even thought at first it was some kind of prank or someone personifying him. The surprise she felt transformed into warmness after some seconds, and she was smiling warmly while staring at his name on the list. That’s when she realized it once more: she liked the way his name was written. Natsuha already realized it when she was still caring for him at the hospital, after seeing so much his name on the checkup sheets she had to fill in everyday after she was done visiting his room… but right at this moment, she could feel all kind of feelings, amongst those: warmness, sympathy, bitterness… all she could tell for sure was that her heartbeats indeed increased upon seeing his name. ****

She made arrangements to be free at the time slot he had booked, making sure not to get her hopes too high in case it would be someone else, or in case she wouldn’t be able to come upon him. Natsuha was happy her project would be maybe leading her to meet him again… while thinking about it, herself wasn’t even sure as to why she was so eager to meet him again. However, all of these thoughts didn’t matter anymore as soon as she was thinking of him and felt her cheeks gradually warming and the drumming beats in her chest. ****

The day of the booking day Ginoza had set, Natsuha felt nervous. She made sure to finish her work earlier so she could go to the park a bit ahead of the time slot he indicated in the form, and decided to sit on a bench near a waterfall that owners particularly liked because dogs could drink there and play when the weather called for it. As she felt being more and more impatient, she let out a sigh, feeling embarrassed to be waiting for such a thing. She closed her eyes a bit and took this opportunity to rest a bit after her tiring day at work. ****

As she was playing with her legs, she suddenly heard a dog panting near her. As she turned her eyes to see the dog, she exclaimed upon recognizing the dog: “Dime?!”  
She could then hear a familiar voice reacting: “Oh, you remember him?”   
Natsuha looked up to the owner of this voice. ****

_It was the one she had been waiting to meet for this long._ ****

“Hey, it’s been a while,” Ginoza greeted with a warm smile.  
“H- hey… ?” Natsuha barely managed to give back, too taken aback by this sudden meeting.  
“Mind if I sit next to you?” he asked. She nodded a bit and desperately tried to find something to tell him to break this awkward silence, as Ginoza sat next to her.  
“How are you doing since then, Toganezaki-sensei?”  
“How are _you_ doing?” Natsuha gave back his question.  
“Me? I’m doing fine I guess,” he simply replied.  
“O- Oh,” reacted the doctor.  
Another awkward silence came in between the two, as Dime laid besides Ginoza’s legs. He looked up at the sky and directed to Natsuha: “I heard you were the one directing this park project? I’m grateful to you.”  
“N- No…” let out Natsuha. She was secretly happy he said he was grateful to her, and could feel warmer.  
“Since my freedom has shrinked ever since I’m a latent criminal,” he claimed, looking at her, “I tried to walk Dime indoors but after all, dogs need huge space and fresh air to be well.”  
“You’re right,” reacted Natsuha, directing a warm smile to him. She then strongly closed her eyes, fed up at herself for being, in her opinion, “too boring”. For some reason, she couldn’t talk properly to him at that moment as it felt awkward. She tried her hardest to find a topic she could talk about with ease. ****

After some seconds of silence, she suddenly exclaimed: “Oh by the way! You told me once you’d be okay to help from time to time with the forum, right? Actually it’s still active and doing pretty well, so if you’d like, we can gather once a month here or when you feel like it to exchange point of views and advice? How about it?”

Ginoza was carefully listening to Natsuha and her suggestion. He then put his hands in the pockets of his trench coat and closed his eyes for a few seconds. Natsuha didn’t expect a miracle; actually, she was even expecting him to find some excuse or even refuse while throwing her some hurtful remark. ****

“Sounds good,” reacted Ginoza, before continuing, “more than being able to walk Dime there, I’ll still be able to meet you and discuss about dogs, it’ll act as a good relaxation after work,” he finished, addressing her with an assured and warm smile.  
Natsuha widened her eyes as she noticed his expression, that she saw for the first time. Her heart skipped a beat as the street light was illuminating his face, allowing her to distinguish clearly his expression and tender look.  
“You should smile more often…” she let out in a breath, almost murmuring to herself.   
“Hm? Did you say something?” He inquired bluntly, curious.  
“I said it’s great you’re okay for that!” She hastily retorted, before putting her hands on the thighs and lowering her lead, looking at her knees: “But I see… you still want to meet with me…” ****

Natsuha couldn’t help but smile warmly upon realizing that fact. The man looked at her, before letting out this simple word, that made Natsuha being flustered:  
“Surprised?”  
She strengthened the grip on her thighs, noticing her cheeks were warmer, before replying: “Just a bit… I… I also want to spend more time with you,” she blurted out, without even thinking about what she had said in the last part of her sentence. It was too late when she realized it and she covered her mouth, embarrassed by her sudden and unexpected boldness.

Ginoza seemed genuinely intrigued and curious by her sudden change in attitude but didn’t ask anything about it. He just let out: “Really? It’s great.” ****

Natsuha felt like a defenseless kitty in front of him now. It was as if she showed her weaknesses and that he could use them to his advantage to make her say anything before she even had the time to think about it, or realize it had already gotten out from her mouth.  
“Alright then,” she tried her hardest to keep her composure in front of him, “you know how to contact me if needed!” she looked at him, with a determined look.  
“Ah I forgot to tell you… since my demotion, I lost all the contacts I had registered during my time as inspector…” he announced with a pinch of disappointment.  
“Oh,” Natsuha only managed to let out this simple syllable, visibly affected by the news.  
“But well, since this park exists now, I intend to make use of it the longest I can,” he claimed, “it feels great to feel a bit more freedom, even if it’s only a moment. I feel like I’ll be coming there every week to walk Dime.”   
“I… I see… that’s great… yeah…” Natsuha couldn’t help but smile upon hearing his words. She could feel her cheeks getting warm once more and her heart beating faster… of excitement, of course. _It could’ve been only for this reason, right?!  
_ “So we can meet every week if you’d like. You can see when I’m booking a slot, right?” He addressed her with an assured smile. ****

Natsuha felt it was the great moment to make him show she wasn’t interested in meeting more with him, _not even a slight bit!_   
“H- Humpf! Every week?! That’s going too far! I’m busy with my job you know!” While claiming this, she closed her eyes and tried her hardest to hide the fact she was feeling warm when he evoked meeting every week.  
“Oh, my bad. It’s true you’re very busy with your job, _miss the prodigy doctor_ ?”  
“W-What?!” Natsuha clenched her teeth as she was glaring at him with a mid-angry, mid-pouty face.  
“Haha. I remember you called me ‘mister the almighty inspector’ once, right? Right back at you now,” he jokingly said.  
“Stop remembering such stupid details, geez…” The woman let out a long sighed, remembering her immaturity towards him.


	8. Meetings leading to feelings

As planned, the two of them met more regularly after that one time. Natsuha didn’t want to make it too obvious she wanted to meet him the more possible, so there were times she was voluntarily skipping the “meeting”, even after seeing his name on the list. Then she would be finding some stupid excuses to justify she had to miss out on their meeting the next time they’d see each other. Ginoza never dug out too deep and was often seen smiling warmly when Natsuha was desperately trying to find excuses, stuttering on her words while blushing and avoiding his look.

One time, Natsuha formally organized a meeting dedicated for them to gather and exchange advice and point of views. She said she’d be bringing a colleague that joined the hospital a few weeks ago at that time. Ginoza agreed. The day of the meeting, there was a friendly atmosphere and Natsuha felt more relaxed having her colleague with her because it contributed diverting her attention from Ginoza and not feeling anymore her rising heartbeats or warm cheeks disturbing her whenever she was alone with him. It seemed this colleague was interested in Natsuha as he was often initiating physical contact with her hands or shoulders, and was being “overly friendly” with her, which irritated Ginoza who was often glaring at the other man. At first, he didn’t read too much into it, and himself wasn’t understanding why he felt irritated by the situation.

Another of the meetings was a hard time for Natsuha, that may have contributed to her realizing a bit more of her changing feelings towards Ginoza. As they were chit-chatting together, a lady she didn’t know of (Inspector Aoyanagi) interrupted them to tell Ginoza it was time for him to leave. Natsuha thought at first it was his girlfriend as she was really pretty and kind of friendly with him, and she remembers getting teary and pouting as she saw the two of them leaving the park next to one another while chatting. 

During another of the meetings, Natsuha had to assist an important surgery the day following. When it happens, she has the habit to bring out one of the coins belonging to her grandma’s collection, acting as a lucky charm. She was staring at the coin while waiting for Ginoza. When he arrived, he saw her with that coin in the hands and began to talk about it. That’s when the two of them learned about their common interest in coins. That day, they spent the time that was allowed to them to exchange joyfully about it.

The two of them gradually realize the nature of their changing feelings towards each other by multiplying interactions and meetings.

Both of them fully realized their feelings for each other during one of those meetings. Natsuha invited again the colleague that came during one of the earlier ones. Ginoza could’ve refused the invitation as Natsuha told him beforehand he would be there, but he didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to spend more time with her so he accepted. During the meeting, that colleague was bolder than the previous time and was getting close to her face, or trying to play with her fingers. Natsuha tried to gently push him away as she didn’t want to strain their relationship as colleagues, but he continued nonetheless. In addition, they were actively chatting about dog therapy advice, and it felt like they were locked in their own little world.

That’s when Ginoza felt like a tensed string snapping when watching the whole situation taking place in front of his eyes. He suddenly stood up, slapping both of his hands on the table, surprising both Natsuha and the colleague who were still in the middle of chatting. Natsuha felt for an instant he was back to his personality before he was demoted from his position as an inspector, which froze her on the spot. The man then glared at both of them before leaving the place they were gathering in. Natsuha had a feeling of déjà-vu with his look, which reminded her the one he addressed her when she put off his glasses during their first meeting.

She decided to follow him. After some seconds of silence when Ginoza was walking fast, Natsuha did her best to keep up with his pace, and he finally stopped at a bridge. He turned back to her. 

Natsuha spoke out: “What’s wrong with you all of the sudden?”  
“Don’t mind me,” he retorted, “I just felt the need to step out.”  
“But, why all of the sudden… ?”  
“You don’t need me, right?! Just ask him anything you need to know as he seems to be way better than I am! I’m just an extra watching you both getting all feely-touchy and chatting friendly, aren’t I?!”  
Natsuha widened her eyes when hearing his point of view on the situation she was in with her colleague. She didn’t see it that way. When rewinding the situation, she felt her cheeks warmer as the thought he may have been jealous crossed her mind. She wanted him to stop her in what she thought was a desillusion so she took the decision to straightfully ask if it was the case, while putting her hands on the hips and feigning being really calm. Part of her was expecting him to deny everything.

She threw at him with a loud voice enough for him to hear:   
“Hoho, maybe you were jealous?”

While she was trying to say it with a pretentious and haughty tone, she got betrayed by her trembling voice due to her nervousness and her heart beating really fast, in addition to her hot cheeks. The thought of him possibly feeling that way towards her made her feel kind of dizzy.

_ She wanted him to be jealous. _

The man lowered his head upon hearing Natsuha’s question and almost shouted while clenching his fists:   
“And what if I were?!”

Natsuha blackoutted for some seconds and gulped, as a single tear fell out of her eye. His words acted like a bomb in her chest, and she could feel her entire face burning. She couldn’t find the words to convey to him at this exact moment. If it were only her decision, she could’ve just confessed and blurted out she feels the same when a woman is getting too close to him. Natsuha closed the distance with him. She was now behind his back.

Ginoza put his hand on his forehead and turned his look to her. She didn’t even dare look at his face as she was aware her own face wasn’t really something to show at this moment. As she lowered her face, she couldn’t see his expression. However, she could feel his hand touching her shoulder, as he claimed:

“Sorry, I stepped out of my bonds. I’m a latent criminal, I shouldn’t be allowed to feel that way towards you… I apologize. Maybe it would be better for both of us not to meet again for a while…”

Natsuha didn’t find the words again to convey at this moment. Maybe, as he said, it would be better for them not to meet again, so she could forget about it too.

_ So she could forget she is in love with him. _

Upon realizing her feelings towards Ginoza, Natsuha throws herself into work, hoping she could get over them and forget about him and these feelings. He was still booking to walk Dime in the park, but Natsuha carefully avoided coming upon him and only went there from time to time to check on the installment. She also avoided the spots where they used to meet and had memories together. As days passed, she was thinking way less about him and was satisfied as work was coming along too. She was even thinking it was the best for her: as much as she had recognized having feelings of love towards him, the values instilled by her family were stronger than anything within her. As such, falling in love and having a relationship with a latent criminal was out of question. Natsuha closed her eyes thinking about the day her parents would introduce her to some kind of high-ranked official from the Government or someone from another hospital she would have to marry in order to keep her family’s reputation and her social status.

Since that meeting with the colleague, they didn’t meet anymore. Ginoza even ended up getting back at walking Dime indoors as he grew busier with work and didn’t want to get distracted by the memories he had with Natsuha in that park. The distance between them grew wider, but a particular unfortunate event happening in Natsuha’s life contributed to close the distance between them…


	9. Fortune within misfortune

Natsuha was a total workaholic in a mere attempt to forget about Ginoza and her hard work paid off: her abilities were once more confirmed and she was complimented by her colleagues, feeling more accomplished than ever. At that moment, she even had the feeling she would soon completely forget about him and get back to her life before her meeting with him. She couldn’t let her personal feelings interfere with her work.

_ However, she had to expect thunder would come after continuous sunny days. _

A new doctor was assigned to the hospital she is working in. Her workplace was known to be of high standing, and only high qualified staff could join it, may it be doctors or medical staff such as nurses or ambulance drivers. As the hospital was founded by a member of the Toganezaki family, it was custom that all new staff were coming from the family (considering their way to raise children) or recommended by its members.

However, that new doctor was nothing of that. He was “simply” a prodigy that applied to the job and got it by the normal circuit. Natsuha has heard the HR department was tired of the almost “dictatorship” of the Toganezaki family and was trying to end it by employing new talents, whether they come from the family or were actually recommended.

At first, the new doctor was kind and “submissive” to Natsuha he considered as a senior worthy of respect. In spite of this, he quickly showed how efficient and good he was at work, and Natsuha’s colleagues even began to think she was “less” than him. He managed to attract favors of some members of her family, and Natsuha was being told to work more so as not to “lose” against him as she comes from the Toganezaki family and was the favorite one to become their heiress. 

Not knowing about her boundaries and driven by her will to not stain her family’s reputation, Natsuha overworked and was unconsciously comparing herself to him. Each day passing was a new hurdle to her, and she grew more tired by comparing herself to that new colleague. He was better than her, for sure. However, she couldn’t afford to “lose” as a member of the family who founded this hospital. All she had in mind at that moment was work, work, and work. Her adrenaline was now fed by the competitive spirit she had being taught about when she was a child. 

She worked and overworked, stayed late at night at work, spent sleepless nights, compared her actions to his, ran after him without being able to catch up. She grew desperate and ready to all so she could be “better” than the new doctor that joined.

Until that day she made a serious mistake at work, the result of stress, anxiety, fear and tiredness piling up for weeks. When she visited the therapist after the upper ones told her to, he diagnosed a burn-out due to the new doctor’s appearance, and advised her to “take a break”. However, Natsuha didn’t listen to him and went back to work as usual the following day… before being thrown out of the hospital by the security drones. 

She learnt all her access rights to the hospital and even to her office were revoked. It seems one member of her family had planned she wouldn’t be listening in case she was told to take a break, which explained the drastic measures. When she tried to get an explanation by her father, he simply told her to “take a break and think about her future career”, which left her in shock. 

It was just like she lost her work.

At that moment, she was so inhibited by all those feelings related to work she managed to trick and bury what her heart was feeling; but now that she was forced to take a break, it was just like she was given the opportunity to properly face her feelings.

_ She wanted to meet him.  _

**[ The events described below take place right before and during S2 ]**

_ A few weeks later. _

Natsuha managed to properly discuss with her family and both parties managed to come with an agreement: the period she would not come at work to officially “take a break” had a time limit, and she was required to take a “strict rest time” so as to not repeat the same situation again. Taking advantage of this “free time”, she became fully active on the forum to give advice to dog owners and took this opportunity to promote her park project and invite latent criminals to “meetings” so they could have a minimum of interaction in a space that was dedicated to them.

However, as much as she enjoyed having her hobby as a full time activity for now, she couldn’t help but miss her work and think over and over again about the mistake she had made that led to this situation. As she lost access to all internal documents and to her office, she couldn’t even check the bookings for the park, and had put Ginoza in a corner of her mind. All she was thinking about at that moment was to reflect on herself and her mistakes, and think about her future career as her father suggested.

One day, while her mental health almost reached bottom, she went to the park and instinctively went to the bench she was used to sit on and talk with Ginoza, losing track of the time as all days were looking like one another since she was told to take that break. Herself wasn’t conscious of where she was walking. She sat on the bench and stretched, before letting out a long and loud sigh, while closing her eyes. 

She was about standing up before she got interrupted by a voice.  
“Your lifespan will reduce with a sigh this long.”

She turned her head to the right to look to see who was the one telling her something this rude and she recognized Ginoza. Seeing him again didn’t trigger any funny reaction in her chest, she was surely too overwhelmed by other feelings. She glanced at him one second before sitting on the bench again, and the man stepped forward to sit next to her.

“I was wondering how you were doing and the first thing I see after this long is you sighing?” jokingly threw the man.  
“Mind your own business,” threw back Natsuha in a weary tone, glancing at him.  
“Seems you’re overly active in the forum again,” he noticed, ignoring her curt remark.  
“You knew about it?” inquired Natsuha, curious.  
“Well yeah, I just went to check it a few days ago, that’s all. I thought you were busy with your job?”  
After a few seconds of silence, Natsuha sighed again before announcing: “I was told to take a break.”  
“A break?” he asked, slightly confused.

Natsuha closed her eyes of relief, relieved someone appeared to whom she could vent about her feelings and worries. She began to tell everything that happened and that led to her “break” while looking straight in front of her. Ginoza listened carefully to her without interrupting. When she finished talking about it, she ended by saying: “... I feel miserable. If only I had considered at least slightly my boundaries, then it would’ve never happened… pathetic, isn’t it? You can laugh if you want,” she ended up letting out. 

All that mattered now was the fact she had released her worries. She didn’t even expect him to sympathize with her or even comfort her. She just wanted someone to listen and he was there at the right moment, that’s all. Venting to him contributed to slightly lessen the burden that weighted on her heart for too long.

Some seconds of silence followed. Ginoza surely wanted to proceed all he had heard. He claimed after hearing Natsuha’s last bit of sentence: “You expected me to laugh at you? Sorry but I won’t.”  
She directed her look to his face upon hearing him and saw he had a serious expression.   
Seems like he wasn’t telling this out of irony.

Natsuha was embarrassed to have thought he would mock her after hearing such a situation. He was way more mature than her after all… she thought about how much he changed from the time she had met him when he was still an inspector.

“I see… thanks for listening to me,” she genuinely thanked him with a little voice.  
“No problem,” he simply replied, before continuing after some seconds: “I don’t know if I can be of help, but I’ll be glad to hear you out if you still have any worries.”  
Natsuha widened her eyes an instant before gradually feeling warm. Tears were even about to fall from her eyes. To her who had reached bottom, it was like he acted as a charming prince on a horse ready to save her.  
“Why are you doing all of that… ?” She managed to ask with a little sobbing voice.  
“Hm? Doing what?”  
“I mean,” she cleared out her voice, looking at his face, “nothing forces you to hear me out! It must be boring to hear!”  
“Hmmm,  _ I wonder why  _ I’m willing to do “all of that” indeed?” He claimed with a surprisingly soft tone, while addressing her a warm smile. 

Natsuha’s heart skipped a beat as she realized he was surely implying something else in his sentence. She quickly diverted her look from him and looked at her thighs, her cheeks beginning to become warmer. That’s when all she tried hard to forget during those past months came back to her like a slap in her face.

_ “Ah, after all I love him.” _

As she remembered her feelings one by one, she firmly closed her eyes with blushing cheeks. Being able to meet him again while she was feeling the ground falling under her feet was truly a fortune.


	10. Re: new beginning and a blessing from above

Just like what Ginoza has told wasn’t valid anymore, they began to regularly meet again, at more random moments as Natsuha couldn’t check anymore the booking list for the park, and because Ginoza had limited access to her forum due to his freedom restriction. However, they tried to arrange meetings by voice when they saw each other in person. While the first meetings felt awkward, they could slowly regain the friendly relationship they had before the meeting with the colleague that led them to have a break in their regular meetings.

Natsuha was always looking for those meetings as it helped her remaining sane during her “break” period. Ginoza was back joking with her and the woman was sometimes seen chuckling when she was with him. Her mental health improved a lot and she was blossoming despite her work situation.

During one of those meetings, she got to know more about him, while they were talking about her work situation.  
“Guess you’re still a good-for-nothing doctor as of now,” Ginoza jokingly claimed.  
“I don’t want to hear that from you,  _ fallen inspector, _ ” Natsuha pouted as she directed this curt remark to him.  
Upon hearing that, the man lifted his shoulders with a little smile and replied: “Well yeah, I can’t deny I’m a fallen inspector. However, being demoted of this position allowed me to open my eyes on lots of things.”

She widened her eyes: it reminded her she didn’t know about the reason why he was demoted. She decided to ask him about it and he surprisingly accepted to tell her about it: his dad being latent criminal and him working in the same division when he was an inspector and him his subordinate. Their conflictual relationship, him hating his own eyes because they reminded them of his father’s, and that day where they went on a mission together and when his dad died on the line of duty while protecting him from a bomb. 

“You know the rest I suppose. I was transported at the hospital and woke up a few days later with a prosthetic arm and a nice doctor taking care of me,” he ended, smiling a bit.

As he did for her, Natsuha also listened to him carefully without interrupting. When he finished to tell the last sentence, she looked away while pouting with slight blushing cheeks, before telling: “I didn’t know about your dad… actually, when you were still sleeping after your surgery, I’ve heard another person was accompanying you, but that he was already dead--”

Natsuha suddenly froze in horror and put her two hands in front of the mouth. Since little, she is extremely sensitive to paranormal phenomena, and her beliefs got fed by the numerous books she had read about ghosts, souls, demons, exorcism, Paradise and Hell, and all sorts of phenomena related. Year by year, she had picked up all kinds of beliefs and was fiercely believing a soul could haunt her if she evoked their memory while she didn’t introduce herself to them.

The woman looked Ginoza in the eyes with a teary look and almost shouted: “Please let me apologize to your dad!!!” while saying this, she unconsciously gripped to his arm.  
Ginoza widened his eyes in surprise, confused by her reaction. “What do you mean by apologizing to him?” he inquired, curious.  
Natsuha then softly put both of her hands on her thighs, looking straight in front her, tensed like a stick. She let out in a frightened voice: “Do you know about it? If you evoke a dead person’s name without even introducing yourself to them, they could take it as an offense and haunt you until death… even worse, you could get cursed until the last of your days...”

Ginoza clinged his eyes some seconds in silence before chuckling. While Natsuha was taken aback to hear his laughing voice for the first time as some blushes were appearing on her cheeks, she quickly understood he was making fun of her: “There’s nothing funny about it?! Do you want me to get cursed, Ginoza-kun?!” She protested, shaking her fists in his direction.

“Haha, sorry,” he managed to tell in between his chuckles, “it’s just that it’s been a while I didn’t hear anything this absurd… haha,” while barely finishing to speak, he couldn’t even repress his reaction.  
“What do you mean by absurd?! So you know I’ve been reading lots of books about it!!” Natsuha protested once more with a pouty face.  
“You know, I really think cursing or haunting you would be the very last things my dad would do to you. He was a good person,” he finished with a hint of sadness in his voice.  
“Even so please let me apologize to him!!” She almost demanded him, before adding in a smaller and frightened voice, “I won’t be able to sleep for nights if I don’t get to do it…” 

Ginoza addressed her with a warm smile: “Alright. I’ll be asking my boss for her authorization to let me go there with you.”

_ A few days later. _

He managed to get the authorization from Akane as well as planning the meeting so both her and Natsuha would be free (as he has to get accompanied by an inspector whenever he goes out). In the car, Natsuha introduces herself to Akane and offers her help providing medical data if she ever needs them for investigation reports, before telling her she already did it a few times before. Akane gratefully accepted her support and told her she would be contacting her if anything. 

When they arrived at the cemetery, Akane told them she would be waiting at the car and let them two enter the cemetery. In front of Masaoka’s grave, Natsuha looked very serious as she joined both hands and closed her eyes to pay him respects. Ginoza couldn’t help but stare at her with slight blushing cheeks. He ended up joining both his hands and closed his eyes too.

“Dad, it’s me again. I’m coming back to see you because the lady next to me almost demanded me to apologize to you for evoking your memory. Ridiculous isn’t it? I don’t know if you remember but you’ve met her once already, though our relationship wasn’t exactly the best at that time… lots happened but now I am here to introduce her to you.”

Ginoza opened his eyes while still joining his hands, hoping his thoughts would reach his dad. He stared at the grave while smiling warmly.

“I fell in love with her. I didn’t tell her and I doubt she knows about it… to be honest I would love to tell her, but you know that my current status as a latent criminal might affect her… and I don’t want to cause her any inconvenience. Hey, dad. I would’ve loved to hear about your stories with mom. How did you manage your status as a latent criminal with your never ending affection towards her?”

Ginoza unjoined his hands and glanced over Natsuha. He noticed she was firmly closing her eyes while still joining her hands.

“Hello, Ginoza-kun’s dad! Nice to meet you, my name is Toganezaki Natsuha. I’ve asked Ginoza-kun to bring me here because I wanted to apologize for evoking your memory without introducing myself to you first. He told me some stories about you, and to be honest, I would’ve loved to save you that day too… pride of a doctor, maybe. Your son is amazing! Ah, but at first I thought he was kind of rude and boring, but he’s strong and I just learnt recently about his kindness. For sure he’ll find a fine woman to take care of him like he deserves! I wish it could be me… I wonder if I’m enough though… ? Ah no, please forget what I’ve said! He deserves way more than a good-for-nothing doctor huh…”

Natsuha suddenly opened her eyes, blushing at her thoughts. She glanced over Ginoza’s side while unjoining her hands and their eyes met. She quickly looked away and he asked her:   
“And so, did you manage to apologize to him?”  
“A-Ah yeah, thanks for bringing me here!” she hastily replied.  
“No problem. Well then, let’s go,” he let out, walking away from the grave. Natsuha followed him and caught up to his side.

“And you, did you manage to address him with some prayers?” she enthusiastically asked.  
“It’s a secret,” he claimed with a smile.  
“How stingy, you could tell me at least…” Natsuha pouted while glancing at him.  
“I’ll tell you sometime if I have the opportunity,” he simply claimed with a little smile.

Natsuha slowed down her pace and was now a bit behind him. As she was deep in thoughts about her “meeting” with Ginoza’s dad, she didn’t pay attention anymore where she was walking. That’s when she stumbled against a cobblestone. Too surprised about it, she couldn’t react in time to use her foot and help herself be back on her two feet. Losing balance, she began to fall forward, and Ginoza was alerted by her little scream.

Just like instinctively, he stretched his arms to catch her in his arms. He unconsciously strengthened his embrace to be sure she wouldn’t fall, and now it was just like he was hugging her.

Natsuha's pupils were trembling as she realized her head was against his chest. She gripped her hand on his shirt, gradually feeling the warmth on her cheeks getting more intense. As much as she was thinking to push him away gently, she couldn’t bring herself to, wanting to enjoy this close physical distance with him. She tried to use her other hand to do it, but it was as if a sweet fever was invading her head. Her movements didn’t belong to her anymore. She then felt his hand intertwining her hair, softly putting back her head on his chest while she was trying to get away from his embrace. Her head was spinning as her cheeks were burning, added to Ginoza’s soft strokes on her hair. 

She firmly closed her eyes a few seconds before using all of her strength to push him away with both of her arms. Ginoza almost lost balance as he didn’t expect her reaction.   
“G- G- Ginoza-kun! If this was meant to be a joke, it’s not funny at all!” She protested while looking at his face. Hers was bet red.  
“I didn’t mean it as a joke though…” he softly let out with a warm smile.  
“A- Anyway! I would feel bad making your boss wait anymore so I’m going back first!!” Natsuha almost shouted while running towards the car where Akane was waiting.

Ginoza smiled warmly as he watched her back, before he turned back his look to the cemetery.

“Thank you, dad.”


	11. First names and last walls

**[ The events described below take place between S2 and the movie ]**

Natsuha felt better as days were passing. She could feel accomplished in her new activity, and was even reluctant to go back to work as she could tie new and strong bonds with the followers of her community. She could also meet again with Ginoza, though it wasn’t regular and not for too long; but it was better than nothing. Since the time they had visited his father’s grave, Natsuha could feel her feelings towards him strengthened and was seriously considering confessing… but she always had to remember her family’s stance about relationship with latent criminals, which led her to even lie to herself, convincing herself she was fine with only having a friendly relationship with him, while still feeling jealous when thinking he may have interacted with other women than her during his work time. ****

When meeting with him, her feelings were always somehow overflowing, and she always found herself losing control over what would go out her mouth: it was as if her heart was taking over her brain. As such, she had found herself in an embarrassing position on several occasions where her feelings towards him were almost spoken out by themselves… ****

 _Just like it happened that particular day._ ****

They were casually talking about hobbies and the discussion somehow shifted to work. He asked: “And so, when are you going back to work, Toganezaki-sensei?”

Natsuha was deep in thoughts as she was balancing the pros and the cons about the right timing to confess to him. She went back to reality when she heard his question and felt a pain in her chest and some sadness hearing the way he was calling her. Her heartbeats were gradually rising and she gripped her hands on her thighs while lowering her head, looking at her knees. ****

“Natsuha…” she let out in a small voice.  
“Hm?” Ginoza titled a bit his head, confused by her reply.  
She then suddenly turned her look to him before staring at him with a determined look.  
“Natsuha! That’s my first name,” she claimed, continuing to grip her hands on her thighs, “don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about it?”   
He addressed her a warm smile before looking in her eyes: “Of course not. It’s a pretty name.”  
Natsuha looked away before claiming with red cheeks: “Your first name too is...”  
“Really? Thanks,” he said. “Hm, and so, what about your name… ?” ****

Natsuha closed her eyes in despair: she never expected he would be this slow at understanding. She was worried her true motives would be too obvious and her feelings towards him exposed, so she chose getting all pretentious and haughty again while her trembling voice was betraying her once more. Putting her hands on the hips and closing her eyes, she proudly claimed: ****

“I- I allow you to c-call me by this name you find pretty! A- Amazing, huh? I don’t let much c-calling me that way but I can m-make an exception for you!!” ****

Ginoza clinged his eyes a few seconds before addressing her a relieved smile.  
“Natsuha,” he simply let out in a sweet tone. ****

Upon hearing him calling her first name for the first time, she had to put her two hands in front of the mouth, as it acted like a bomb in her brain and chest: one second more and she couldn’t prevent her love confession from going out her mouth. Her eyes widened as she could feel the gradual warmth invading her cheeks, ears, and eyes. ****

 _How could he sound this cute and sweet while only pronouncing her first name?!_ ****

“Y-Yes?!” She instinctively replied.  
“After all it’s a pretty name,” he noticed.  
“T-Thank you… uh, hmm…” Natsuha hesitated.  
“Hm?”   
“Y-Your first name… c-can I… um, c-call you by it too… ?” She finally managed to let out with a trembling voice. She firmly closed her eyes as the few seconds before his reply seemed like eternity. ****

“I don’t really mind,” he finally let out.  
“O-oh and so, w-what were you asking again, N-No… Nobu... “ As Natsuha was desperately trying to take advantage of this new right she gained from him, her head felt dizzy as she was thinking of what she was trying to pronounce. Ginoza stopped her by a hand gesture when he noticed she was beginning to sway from left to right.  
“You don’t have to force yourself, just call me that way when you feel like it.”  
“Eh?” reacted Natsuha, a bit disappointed she couldn’t manage to call him by his first name.  
“It’s okay. It must feel a bit weird at first, right? In any way, thanks for allowing me to call you that way, Natsuha,” he said, closing his eyes of relief. ****

“D- Don’t mention it,” she simply said back. ****

When they separated ways at the end of the meeting, Natsuha murmured while putting her fist in front of her mouth, as a test:

“Nobuchika…” ****

She ended up violently blushing and felt her heart pounding hard as tears were about to fall from her eyes, thinking about how even her mouth got warmer pronouncing his first name. ****

_A few days later._

Natsuha reunited with some of her relatives and they ended up discussing love. While all of the girls around the table were either worried about the System’s compatibility results or about whether they’d find a good partner, Natsuha was deep in thoughts as Ginoza’s face floated in her mind as they were talking about “love”. She had reached the point she decided not to lie anymore to herself about her feelings towards him; however, at present time, everything seemed against her so she could wholly accept them and let him know about them. ****

“And you Nacchan, do you have someone you like?” addressed her one of her cousins.  
“Eh?” Natsuha reacted, surprised the discussion revolved around her now.  
“Don’t ‘eh’ us!! We are worried whether our Madonna has someone in her heart or not!” added another of her cousins.  
She hesitated some seconds before replying: her family had strict rules and a rather rigid way of thinking. She chose not to unveil anything for the time being, as she didn’t even sort out her feelings.  
“N-No, no one…” she softly replied.  
“No way?! With your looks, personality and status as a head of department, lots are head over heels for you! You can pick anyone you want!!” protested her cousin.  
“Oh by the way, what about that police inspector with glasses?” ****

Her heart skipped a beat and she began to blush as Ginoza’s face appeared in her mind. ****

“Ah yeah! I remember you were always kind of snapping out when talking about him… what was it, “stupid coin head man”?” claimed one of the ladies. ****

Natsuha chuckled when hearing about the nickname she was giving him before smiling warmly thinking about how their relationship evolved. ****

“If I’m not mistaken,” announced another of her cousins, “he’s an inspector of the Public Safety Bureau right?! That’s so cool!! I heard it’s the elite track to get a stable job in the Ministry of Welfare!!”  
“Waow, so he’s truly an elite in-becoming!! No… even already an elite?! Becoming inspector is quite a thing on its own! An elite should be paired with an elite… as expected of Nacchan! Now you got to do something about your seemingly strained relationship with him or he’ll slip you through the fingers!”  
 ****Natsuha suddenly tensed and put her hands between her thighs. She seemed to have a sad look as she stared at her cousin: “Ah… hum… actually he’s not an inspector anymore…”  
“What?! Do you mean he got promoted into chief inspector or even head of the PSB?!”  
She lowered her head and one of her cousins noticed it by a glance. The latter let out after some seconds:  
“... or if you think the reverse way, he could’ve been demoted because he became a latent criminal. Inspector is a demanding work, if he saw blood and corpses for years, then it wouldn’t be a wonder.”  
“What?! No waaaay haha, it would be sooo lame if he became a latent criminal!!” Reacted the cousin who supposed he got promoted chief inspector. ****

Upon hearing her reaction, Natsuha suddenly slapped her two hands on the table before glaring at her cousin: “I won’t forgive you if you dare mocking Ginoza-kun.”

The ladies couldn’t help to freeze on the spot as they rarely saw Natsuha getting angry. They were the kind of relatives to get along and help each other whenever something happened, hence why they were confused at her reaction. ****

Natsuha realized she went too far when she noticed the heavy silence in the room. She took back her calm posture and let out: “... sorry. Please let me go out.”  
She then hastily left the room they were meeting in. One of her cousins followed her. ****

_In the corridor.  
_ “Nacchan,” called out one of her cousins.  
“Nee-sama…” Natsuha let out with a sobbing voice. Her cousin stepped towards her and softly put Natsuha’s head on her chest. “You can tell me the truth you know. You’re still meeting that inspector… or should I say, that latent criminal?”  
“Nee-sama,” Natsuha directed her look to her face, “you knew… ?”  
“Judging by your reaction, it was clear like water,” she playfully replied.  
Natsuha looked at her with teary eyes. “I will tell you everything, nee-sama.” ****

Both of them met in Natsuha’s room. There, she told her everything she could from their chaotic meeting to how their relationship evolved, until Ginoza was demoted from his position of inspector, and all that followed. After telling the long story, Natsuha finally let out between two sobs: “Nee-sama, I’m in love with him but I can’t even confess because you know how our family is… plus he also seems self-conscious about his status… the more I spend time with him, the more I realize how much I love him and it’s driving me crazy… I don’t know what to do anymore…” ****

Natsuha knew she could always tell everything to her, because it has been the case ever since she is little. She was never judging her and always had good advice to tell her.

“Thanks for telling me about it, Nacchan,” she smiled warmly, before telling in a playful tone, “but well, who could expect the day my Nacchan would seriously fall in love! What was his name, Ginoza Nobuchika was it? You got me curious now, I kind of want to know what made you fall for him… plus your relationship started off being totally chaotic right?! It’s amazing in its own way!” ****

Natsuha looked away as soon as her cousin evoked their chaotic relationship. She was far from expecting she would be falling for the very same man who publicly shamed her in front of her audience and made her popularity drop on the net…

But now, she was loving him so much that even these moments were dear to her heart.


	12. Step by step

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter formally introduces one of my other Psycho-Pass OCs, Yakushi Ema!! ♥ (her storyline is beginning starting Season 3, so her appearance in Natsuha's storyline is of the past hehe)

_Few days later._

Natsuha decides to visit Masaoka's grave. Actually, during one of her meetings with Ginoza after they had visited his grave, she asked him his name and more details about him, hence why Natsuha could bring a bottle of his favorite alcohol as an offering. In front of the grave, Natsuha put the bottle in front of his grave, and stood up before joining her hands and closing her eyes.

“Hello Ginoza-kun’s dad, Masaoka-san. I allowed myself to visit you by myself this time because… I’m lost and I think you could help me, even if it’s only by thoughts. I… I actually fell in love with your son. I- It might be big coming from me since I’m certainly nowhere near the standing of women he’d certainly like, plus my first impression of him was the worst, he was the one who contributed to my loss of popularity you know?! Even when we met he was rude and kind of condescending, plus he never really looked at me for who I am! He didn’t even recognize my abilities! He always found something to say about my advice concerning dog therapy, plus he’s not even experienced with women! He was the worst! Why did I even fall for him?!”

Natsuha reopened her eyes when realizing she was getting mad on her own. She glanced one second at the grave before smiling warmly, still joining her hands.

“But you know, looking back at these moments, I even find them dear to me now because if he was always butting into my advice, it was certainly because he wanted to push me to learn from my mistakes so I become a better person, right? He even took the time to explain to me about what he found being “wrong” about my advice… and complimented my outfit even if I kind of forced him at first, haha. That should be his own way to express kindness I suppose… he’s also surprisingly honest and hardworking, I like that part of him who’s always thinking straightforwardly about work. When I was taking care of him after his surgery at the hospital, he was caring towards me, while being harsh at times since I don’t know about my boundaries… ah, sorry. I’m losing myself into thoughts…”

Natsuha even lost the purpose of her visit to Masaoka’s grave and stopped thinking a few seconds to listen to the wind… until a feminine voice interrupted her.

“Oh? Someone’s already there to visit Uncle Masaoka?”

Natsuha turned her look to the person to whom the voice belonged and faced a young blonde girl with blue eyes. She almost instantly recognized her.

“Ah! The one who visited Ginoza-kun everyday at the hospital!” Natsuha claimed, pointing her finger to her.  
“Hm? What about Nobuchika nii-san?” She inquired, tilting her head.  
“Nobuchika… nii… san?” Repeated Natsuha in disbelief.

The young girl clinged her eyes while staring at Natsuha’s face. Natsuha pouted as she closed distance with the young girl, staring intensely to her face, screwing up her eyes.  
“What are you to Ginoza-kun?” She asked with a slight aggressive tone.

The young girl looked away, pressured by the intense stare. She put a finger next to her month, seeming to think about her reply.  
“W-What I am… ? Umm… his… his little sister, something like that,” she began, glancing at Natsuha who still continued to stare at her intensely, “I guess? Haha…” she finished, wth some sweat on her face.

“Ummmm,” Natsuha took back a reasonable distance with her before putting her hands on the hips and looking away. “True Ginoza-kun was saying the same back then…” she murmured to herself.  
The young girl noticed Natsuha’s aggressive expression and wanted to calm the atmosphere. She raised her hands to tell she isn’t someone fishy, before scratching her cheek with a finger: “Ah, um, we aren’t blood-related but I know him since I was a child so he became just like a big brother to me...”

Natsuha looked at her with a nicer expression and asked with a pouty face: “Since when do you know him?”  
The blonde girl counted on her fingers before claiming: “It was when I was 7 years old, so… near 9 years now… I guess?”   
“Near 9 years?!” Natsuha suddenly exclaimed, before putting her hand on her head: “I lost to a kid… no way…”  
“Lost?” The young girl reacted, with a surprised expression.  
“Ah n-nothing, just my own talk, haha. So it means you knew of Masaoka-san when he was still alive…”

The blonde girl suddenly wore a hurtful expression as soon as she heard Natsuha evoking Masaoka. “... yes, I did. He was just like a grandpa to me, always taking care of me, treating me to yummy ice creams, worrying about me, telling me of his stories as a detective… I miss him so much…”  
Natsuha softly smiled upon hearing the girl’s testimony. She had some sympathy for the girl and didn’t see her as a threat anymore. She addressed her with a soft tone: “It must’ve been difficult, huh.”

The young girl gave her back a saddened smile and took back a joyful expression a few seconds after, asking: “And you, who are you? Why are you visiting Uncle Masaoka’s grave?”  
“M-Me?!” Natsuha felt like she was in an inferior position compared to the young girl since she wasn’t linked to Masaoka in any way. She hesitated a few seconds before replying: “I… I am the doctor who took care of Ginoza-kun while he was at the hospital. You don’t remember me? I think I came upon you a few times when you were visiting him,” she claimed.  
“Ah, you’re the one who took care of nii-san during all that time! Thank you so much!” The young girl slightly bowed to her, before explaining: “At that time I was so deep in thoughts and focused on other things that I didn’t notice, haha… I’m sorry…”  
“It’s okay, it must’ve been a shock to have your big brother hospitalized for such a huge injury huh.”  
“Yes… but now he’s doing okay and all so I’m fine!” The young girl addressed her with a wide smile.

Natsuha couldn’t help but have slight blushes appearing on her face. This young girl was incredibly charming for some reason, and Natsuha could even feel some kind of borning affection towards her while they didn’t even know each other for long.   
“Ah by the way, I am Yakushi Ema, nice to meet you!” The young girl introduced herself.  
“Toganezaki Natsuha, nice to meet you too,” she replied back with a soft smile.

A few seconds of silence followed, during which Ema took the opportunity to pay respect to Masaoka and give him an offering. Natsuha was looking at her back the whole process and thought about how polite and kind she is. When she finished, Natsuha addressed her.

“Ema-chan?”  
“Hm?”  
“Just to ask, hmm… did Ginoza-kun say something about me… ?”  
“Hummm… the last time we met was at Uncle Masaoka’s funeral and he didn’t say anything special… why are you asking?”  
“O-Oh no, for nothing special…” Natsuha diverted her look.  
Ema screwed up her eyes with a cat mouth and exclaimed: “Ah, maybe you’re nii-san’s girlfriend?!”  
Natsuha blushed hard upon hearing this and couldn’t let out any word.  
“Oh, did I hit the nail?! You are his girlfriend?!” Ema had sparkling eyes as she looked into her eyes.  
“N-No,” Natsuha hastily denied Ema’s affirmation while looking away; she blushed when surprising herself thinking she wouldn’t hate the idea of being his girlfriend.

“Whaaat, you’re not his girlfriend?” Ema let out in a disappointed voice. “I’m taking this opportunity to tell you this since we’re with Uncle Masaoka, but he was always worried whether Nobuchika nii-san would have a girlfriend one day! Because you surely know he’s serious and all, but his work was taking most of his time and Uncle Masaoka wanted someone to take care of nii-san… but I don’t think he managed to find one…” The young girl sighed, before diverting her look and telling in a smaller voice: “but well it’s no wonder… when you see how he was during his inspector days…” 

Natsuha couldn’t help but chuckle as Ema evoked his inspector days: she couldn’t agree more with Ema.

The blonde then brandished her fists to Natsuha and claimed: “But you know, I don’t think he’s a bad person! He is kind at the core but one must be really patient to tell it I guess… he’s not one to tell much but his actions prove otherwise! Anyway, he’s a good person!!”  
The woman put her hand in front of her mouth as she chuckled once more. She then looked at Ema with a sweet look: “I’m not his girlfriend, but a candidate to become that way to him, I guess… ?”  
It was just like Ema’s eyes had become two sparkling balls upon hearing that. She exclaimed: “Really?! Does it mean you… you’re in love with him?!”  
Natsuha softly nodded before addressing the young girl with a warm smile. Ema immediately took Natsuha’s two hands to shake them enthusiastically: “I’m so glad, you don’t know!! If that’s you, Nobuchika nii-san will be treasured, I can tell!! You’re really pretty and I can notice how kind you are!”

Natsuha was surprised by Ema’s reaction and surprised herself putting her hand on Ema’s head before softly stroking her hair: “I will do my best so watch over me, Ema-chan?”  
Ema almost shouted with a wide smile: “Yup, of course! You can count on me!” She then looked at the direction of Masaoka’s grave: “Right, Uncle Masaoka?”   
As much as Natsuha was grateful for the support, she put her finger in front of her mouth: “Ema-chan, not so loud, we’re still at the cemetery.”  
The young girl realized her voice was too loud and put both of her hands in front of her mouth, at Natsuha’s amusement.

* * *

After that, Ginoza and Natsuha met at the park once more. The woman evoked her meeting with Ema.  
“By the way, I’ve met your little sister,” she announced in a soft tone.  
“Little sister?” He inquired.  
“Ema-chan.”  
“Oh, how come?”  
Natsuha hesitated for a few seconds because she didn’t want to tell him she went to his father’s grave for such a trivial reason. She diverted her look before coming up with some random excuse:  
“I… I came upon her in the street! She- She seemed lost and we talked a bit… haha… and then I recognized her and asked more…”  
“I see,” he simply replied.   
“She seems to treasure you a lot,” she noticed, a warm smile on her face.  
“Well yeah. I’ve known her since she is a child and I owe a lot to her dad so... it seems we have an unbreakable bond,“ he let out.  
“Haha, it’s great you have such a cute little sister beside you!”  
“You don’t know how much trouble I went through with her though… she has been reckless numerous times so I would be the one taking up all the work of dealing with her recklessness,” he said, finishing by a sigh. “But well, despite all of this she is a good girl that means no harm,” he claimed with a little smile.

Natsuha chuckled. She then pouted when thinking again about how Ema was calling him while she was still stuck with “Ginoza-kun”. She shook her head from right to left to dismiss these thoughts and their discussion shifted to other matters. Both of them ended up talking about Natsuha’s net community. She proudly claimed how she was still active giving advice and how people complimented the fact her way of giving advice got sharper.

“Oooh, means you’re not a so-said therapist anymore?” jokingly asked Ginoza.  
“W-- What?! Should I remind you who crushed my popularity in one meeting, stupid coin head man?!”  
“I was only speaking out what I thought was right at this moment. But well, I won’t deny you did some progress since then,” he admitted while closing his eyes.  
“Hehe~” she proudly sang, before telling: “But you know, I’m kind of grateful I was lacking knowledge at this moment,” she confessed, with blushing cheeks.  
“Grateful?”   
“B-Because it was the trigger that led to our meeting, right? Without that, maybe we would’ve never met… so… I’m grateful for my own lack of knowledge…”  
“Haha, true,” he began, “if not for that, I wouldn't have involved any further with your community,” he claimed, a smile on his face.  
“I’m glad I got to meet you,” she let out like a bomb, blushing even harder.  
“Me too,” he simply replied, bringing the woman to smile warmly.

After a few seconds of silence, Ginoza asked playfully:  
“And so, when are you graduating from being a good-for-nothing doctor?”  
Natsuha looked at him in disapproval before shaking her fists and let out in a panic: “Stop calling me that way, Nobuchika-san!”   
She then froze in horror realizing the manner she had called him, that went out of her mouth without her realizing it. Ginoza addressed her with a soft smile and she diverted her look with blushes: “I-- I’m sorry…” she almost murmured.  
“Why are you apologizing?” he asked with a sweet tone.  
“B-Because I called you…” Natsuha tried to justify it but was deep inside glad her impulsiveness gave her a soft push so she could call him by his first name.  
“That just makes us even now, Natsuha,” he claimed with a smile.

She couldn’t help but blush hard with her eyes wide open.


	13. Strongest allies

Day by day, the time limit for Natsuha’s “break” from her work was getting closer. However, she was divided between two opinions: on one hand, taking this break allowed her to think once more about herself and what she likes to do, but on the other hand, she didn’t want to break all of her habits and go back to her work as usual… This rest time allowed her to realize something was lacking in her work life: she liked feeling the adrenaline and taking care of the patients, but couldn’t see herself continuing her whole life doing the same job over and over again. 

As such, she was seriously considering not going back to work on the first day decided by her and her family.

She was thinking about all of that, sitting on the usual bench of the park and looking up at the sky, until she got interrupted by a masculine voice and some dog’s panting.

“You seem deep in thoughts. Did something happen?”

When Natsuha turned her look to the owner of the voice, she recognized Ginoza and his dog Dime. She simply diverted her look upon seeing him and let out with a pouty face, enough for him to hear: “I don’t want to go back to work”.

Ginoza sat next to her and simply asked: “How come?”

She then explained about her conflicted opinions and he listened to her carefully without interrupting her. When she mentioned the fact she was actually feeling better giving advice about dogs rather than taking care of patients, he seemed to disapprove about it but didn’t say anything. After she had told him about her thoughts, she asked him what he thought about it.

After a few seconds of silence, Ginoza told his point of view on her problem: “... I don’t really know. For example, when I was an inspector, I just had in mind I would get closer to what makes this world’s power. When you are an inspector for 10 years, you get access to a higher-ranked job in the Ministry of Welfare. I wanted this high-ranked status because my dad was a latent criminal and thus, I could be killed at any time because of that. I thought my future was all decided… being an inspector for 10 years and then getting a job in the Ministry until the day I die… but life happened, and now the future I’ve been yearning for is so far…”

Natsuha stared at him with attentive eyes, intrigued by his talk as he wasn’t the kind to tell much about himself spontaneously.

“Oh sorry, I kind of went out of subject… My point is that you still have a choice. Some people, like me, don’t have this luxury anymore. Thanks to your family background, your curriculum and current abilities, you have a stable job you can count on. If this forced break was beneficial to you, then it’s all good. You got the time to reflect on your mistakes and refocus on what you think is the best for you. What I can say to you is that life is unpredictable, so you better take the choice you think is better at this moment… all of this so you don’t live in regret months and even years later.”

The woman felt like Ginoza’s testimony was more than enough to widen her perspective. This made her realize how selfish she was, always looking at her own little self and being satisfied with her relative good situation, while not taking into perspective what others might have faced. Thinking about it now, she realized how blessed she was to have been born in this family and have such a stable job to count on. As Ginoza pointed out, life is unpredictable, so rather than counting on a community that might collapse at any time (speaking of experience!) and that originally was a hobby, it was better for her now to rely on her current job, and take on any opportunity life would throw to her if any.

She lowered her head and intertwined her fingers together before letting out: “Thank you Nobuchika-san… as always you really say good things,” she smiled warmly, looking at her thighs.

He had a satisfied smile while claiming: “Really? Aren’t you the one who has a rather narrow-minded point of view?”

Natsuha turned around with a dissatisfied expression and raised her arm in front of him as if she wanted to hit him. He caught her hand into his at the moment she threw her arm towards his chest.

She couldn’t help but widen her eyes with blushing cheeks as she realized in which position they were in. The man softly strengthened his grip on her hand, locking his gaze on her. She diverted her look and let go of his hand. “Why are you like this, geez…”

This physical contact with him contributed to confirm once more her feelings for him, as well as taking the decision she struggled to take since days… she was also wondering how much more she would be able to hold on her feelings for him, as if she felt she wouldn’t be able to endure alone anymore the weight of her love for him. It was just like it was a one-sided love, though Natsuha could feel he didn’t act completely uninterested. The problem was still lying in her family’s rigid point of view...

* * *

Following the meeting and discussion with Ginoza, Natsuha finally decided to go back to work the day it was decided by herself and her family. In the meantime, she was seriously considering confessing to Ginoza the next time they would meet each other, as her feelings towards him began to be too heavy to bear alone. Plus, thinking back of their previous interactions and his way of behaving with her, she thought that everything was telling her feelings were reciprocated. 

On her side, Akiho, Natsuha’s cousin whom she trusted with telling everything about her relationship to Ginoza until now, was planning to do something to help her Nacchan to finally confess and go out with the man she is in love with. However, she was also cautious about him as she didn’t know about him apart from what Natsuha told her (and didn’t want to let her precious cousin in the hands of a unknown man), so she decided to do a background check on him, using her status as a military doctor to access those files. She discovered at the same time he is the son of Ginoza Sae, the woman she was asked to take care of by Ema’s dad.

Akiho felt sympathy for him after seeing his curriculum and thought about what Natsuha told her about him. From then, she determined he was a good fit for her Nacchan and pondered about what to do to help them get together. She was well-aware about the family’s way of thinking, as she and Natsuha have been raised the same way; however, part of her was also fed up of also conforming to this kind of narrow opinion.  _ Why couldn’t two persons loving each other be together, independently of their status? _

The woman decided to reach out to him and get a one-on-one meeting with him without Natsuha knowing. She also thought about an additional push to help them facing their feelings…

Natsuha managed to go back to work, and while the first few days were difficult as it has been a while she wasn’t used to being this rushed, she quickly went back to her normal work rhythm and was even full of joy to feel the adrenaline. It seemed all of her colleagues completely forgot about her past mistakes and she was once more praised and treated with respect. She even managed to get along with the new doctor that led her to make the mistake, and stopped comparing herself to him, only wanting to do her job while he was doing his. 

One day, while she was taking a break in the main hall of the hospital, she saw a familiar silhouette inquiring some details to the front desk. She stepped forward and recognized Ema. “Ema-chan?! What are you doing here, at the hospital? Did something happen?” She exclaimed.

The young girl turned to look at Natsuha with a surprised face and slightly bowed upon recognizing her: “Ah, Toganezaki-sensei. I came here for a regular examination, that’s all. I was just about asking for the results!”  
“I see… do you have some kind of disease… ?”  
“Ah nothing serious, only diabetes that’s all!”  
“Oh,” simply reacted Natsuha, before continuing: “By the way, I’m on a break now, would you mind if we talk a bit?”  
“Of course I don’t mind! I’ll just be picking up the results and tell my dad I’ll be joining him a bit later!”  
“You came with your dad… ? I would feel bad to make him wait for you. If you’d like--”  
“Nah it’s no problem, he has an errand to run not too far from the hospital anyway so it’ll take a while. I’ll be staying there a bit!”  
“Thank you,” Natsuha warmly smiled at her.

The woman treated Ema to some hot drink and a snack from the vending machine. They then both sat on a bench nearby. Natsuha had both of her hands on her thighs. A few seconds of silence followed, where the two of them were only surrounded by the constant noise of both the patients and the hospital staff passing by the hall. Ema took a sip of her drink before enthusiastically asking: “And so, how is it going with Nobuchika nii-san?! Any progress since then?”

Natsuha strengthened the grip on her hands and lowered her head a bit: “Actually… that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Hm?” Ema tilted her head.

“I… I’m confused. Long story short, my family is kind of narrow-minded when it comes to relationships with latent criminals. If it were only my decision, I would’ve already confessed to him, but I’m scared of what my family will think if they know I fell for a person with such a status...“ Natsuha sighed after telling Ema the worry that has been weighing on her mind ever since she got back at work.

The young girl clinged eyes for some seconds before asking with an innocent tone: “You still love him even though he’s a latent criminal while most would be repulsed by such status, right? Plus you’re an elite doctor from what I can understand so it’s even more a wonder… but well, Nobuchika nii-san is still Nobuchika nii-san whatever his status, right?” 

Natsuha could read between the lines of what Ema meant: “think about your own feelings first, dealing with the family will come second.” While it wasn’t a bad way of thinking and even a very convenient one, Natsuha still felt insecure. She directed her look at Ema before telling:  
“My first impression about him was the worst, but I came to know him and spend more time with him, which helped me to discover his numerous qualities. There was a time I had to take a break from work because of a serious mistake and he didn’t judge me when I talked to him about it. He even listened to me carefully and tried to give me some advice. To be honest… I would love him whatever his status. May it be an inspector or a latent criminal, he’s the Nobuchika-san I fell for.”

“See?” Reacted Ema with an assured smile after listening to Natsuha. The woman then remembered what Ginoza told her: “By the way, Nobuchika-san told me you were reckless and that he had to follow up with you whenever it happened when I told him I met you.” Natsuha smiled warmly while remembering how Ginoza’s voice tone sounded soft as he was evoking Ema.

“What?! Nobuchika nii-san told you that?! Aaaah geez, I can’t believe it…” Ema put her hand on the forehead before sighing. She then smiled warmly before remembering: “I think it was sometime around the time he just became inspector? I was only 7 years old at that time and very curious. I happened to follow a truck and went inside because the trunk was opened… the truck ended up driving off while I was still inside and--”

Natsuha couldn’t help but repress some chuckles upon hearing the beginning of the story. Ema protested while screwing up her eyes: “Geez Toganezaki-sensei, don’t tell me you’re also going to make fun of me?”  
“Sorry, it’s just that I understand his words better now,” she replied with a little smile. 

The young girl pouted some seconds before telling more: “This day, I really thought I would die. I was scared, locked into an unknown place. When the truck stopped, I just ran to the closest shelter I could find, that happened to be a storage room. It was also dark, cold. I don’t know how much time went by, my mind was blank and I was totally panicked. I was beginning to sob and that’s when I heard some noise nearby… but I was so paralyzed by fear I couldn’t move,” continued Ema.

Natsuha was kind of breathless as she heard Ema’s story, both curious and intrigued about what happened next. Her mind was suddenly haunted by her beliefs about paranormal phenomena. She thought about the possibility Ema might’ve been attacked by a ghost making move some object inside the storage room and began to imagine a whole scenario by herself. She was now staring at Ema, eager to hear the next developments of her story.

“The door opened and I was still teary. I looked front and I saw his silhouette…” Ema was smiling warmly while remembering this exact moment.   
“What appeared?!” Natsuha panicked, still thinking about her paranormal scenario.

Ema turned to look at Natsuha, a sweet smile on her face: “Nobuchika nii-san.”  
Natsuha felt her heart skip a beat as she heard the name of the man she is in love with, as she totally didn’t expect it. Her eyes were round like two balls and she couldn’t only let out: “Eh… ?”  
The young girl continued: “I know this from Uncle Masaoka because he told me later on, but Nobuchika nii-san and Kogami-san were assigned to look for me while they were originally from the criminal investigation department… apparently, Nobuchika nii-san vehemently refused but his friend managed to convince him and they went to look for me.”  
Natsuha asked her in a little voice: “And how did he react when he found you… ?” She was imagining him patting her head and worrying about her health, having in mind the Ginoza Nobuchika she has been interacting with ever since his injury that cost him his position as inspector.

Ema took a long breath upon hearing Natsuha’s question and told with a satisfied face: “He was irritated and scolded me lots! Telling stuff like “I didn’t sign up for this job to look for an idiot missing child” or “whose idiot would go inside of a truck?!”

Natsuha chuckled upon hearing it: for some reason, she could perfectly picture his reaction in her mind. The young girl then lowered her head with a warm smile: “But well… it could’ve ended up worse; and I’m still here because Nobuchika nii-san was there for me.”

Natsuha gave back Ema’s warm smile and a few seconds of silence followed.

“After he found me back and scolded me, I actually collapsed in his arms. When I woke up I realized he was carrying me on his back… his scent was really reassuring. It always managed to put me at ease when I needed it the most...” 

The woman began to panic and boil on the inside thinking about how immature she is for being jealous of Ema. At first she didn’t let it out, until Ema dropped like a bomb:  
“Oh and I also kissed him as a thanks when I came back home!”  
“K- k- k-kissed?!” Natsuha let out in a panic before freezing in horror, having teary eyes.   
“On the cheek!” Ema let out in a chuckle, “Since my mom is French, she told me it was a way to thank people too, especially close ones,” she explained.  
“O- Oh, I see… eeeeh…” Natsuha diverted her look, embarrassed to have panicked at such a simple statement, and especially feeling once more jealousy towards the young girl.  
Ema noticed the doctor’s reaction and screwed up her eyes: “Hummm… are you maybe jealous?”   
“Hah?! Excuse me?! Not at all!! I’m… not…” Natsuha said with a pouty face.  
“Hehe, embarrassed Toganezaki-sensei is cute~ !” The young girl claimed with a wide smile, before approaching her face of Natsuha’s ear and murmuring: “Do you want to know the super secret information I got through my own wisdom?” 

Natsuha slowly nodded and Ema told in a small voice in her ear: “It seems Nobuchika nii-san didn’t have his first kiss yet.”

The woman suddenly startled and stared at Ema with a bet red face, at which Ema chuckled. She then sat back and put the hands on her thighs. “After that, I got involved with another case. It was a few months ago and was more serious as… I got kidnapped. The case wrapped up well and the PSB could catch the culprit. Even at that time, Nobuchika nii-san was the one going all the way out to rescue me… but well, it might’ve just been because it happened to be the case he was investigating though…”

Natsuha had sad eyes as Ema was evoking the kidnapping case she was involved in. Ema then announced while swinging her legs while still sitting on her bench, lowering her head: “Ever since he saved me that first time, I’ve been secretly considering him as my own hero… and that second time made me realize one more thing.”

“One more thing… ?” Natsuha tilted her head. 

“How much I love and admire him,” claimed Ema, before she noticed Natsuha’s pouting face; she then added: “as my pride of big brother! Everytime I need help he’s here to save me. That’s why I want him to be happy.”

Natsuha smiled warmly upon hearing this, and stared at Ema. The latter then added with a smile tainted by some sadness: “You know, I’ve never known about his mother, and he is an only child… so his only family was Uncle Masaoka, even if he never had a really good relationship with him lately… I think I’ve somehow looked for a way to act as a family to him, as a “little sister”... but after all I can’t possibly make up for everything myself… I can’t pretend to give him all the happiness he needs. So please, if it goes well and you manage to confess… and that he replies to your feelings… give him plenty of happiness!” Ema finished while looking at her with a wide smile.

Natsuha listened to Ema’s testimony carefully. She was about to say something when she got interrupted by an unknown masculine voice.

“That’s where you were, Stéphanie.”

Natsuha looked to the man who talked and was amazed by how elegant he looked. Ema’s face illuminated when she saw the man and exclaimed: “Papa! You’re done with your errand!”  
“Yeah,” the man smiled. He then looked at Natsuha who was behind Ema. 

“Oh, are you maybe the doctor who took care of my daughter?”

Natsuha was about to reply when she saw a familiar silhouette approaching them. She froze on the spot, the face bet red. Ema exclaimed when the other man was close enough: “Waoh, Nobuchika nii-san?!”  
Ema’s dad smiled warmly before telling her: “Oh yeah, I’ve come upon Nobuchika-kun while doing my errand. When I told him I would be picking you up at the hospital, he agreed to come along.”

Ema acted just like an excited child: “I’m so happy!!” She then approached Ginoza: “You didn’t even contact me while you promised me to! How stingy of you, Nobuchika nii-san!”  
The man put his hand on top of Ema’s head with a small smile, before gently ruffling her hair: “I'm sorry, Ema. I got busy with my job and didn’t have the time to contact you.”  
Ema looked away with a pouting face: “Geez, stop treating me like a child!”  
Ginoza let out a chuckle before putting his hands on the hips and telling with satisfaction: “Isn’t that what you are though? A child?”  
Ema’s pouting face intensified and she crossed her arms, still looking away in dissatisfaction. 

Natsuha couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of their interaction. She found it endearing. She then turned her look at Ginoza and their eyes crossed, causing Natsuha to blush. The man addressed her with a kind smile: “I didn’t expect to see you there, Natsuha… especially not with Ema,” he told her.  
“Ah y-yeah. I just happened to come upon her during my break and we talked a bit… right, Ema-chan?”

The young girl replied with a smile: “Yup! Toganezaki-sensei is so kind~”  
Natsuha startled with faint blushes upon hearing this compliment, at which Ema replied by a wink and a thumbs up. The girl’s dad then claimed: “Alright, shall we go now?”  
Ema nodded and Natsuha let out: “Oh yeah, right. I have to go back to work too…”

Ginoza raised his hand to greet Natsuha and told with a soft smile: “I’ll be looking forward to our next meeting, Natsuha.”  
The woman smiled warmly: “Me too, Nobuchika-san!”  
Ema’s eyes were sparkling like two shining balls as she was staring at them two talking.   
Natsuha greeted Ema and her dad, then left.


	14. The woman worth an army

_ A few days later. _

Akiho, Natsuha’s cousin, found a way to contact Ginoza and arrange a meeting with him. She took as an excuse it was about his mother (as Akiho’s is her appointed doctor) and got the approval both from him and his boss (as it is normally custom an enforcer gets accompanied by an inspector whenever they go out) to go alone. 

The day of the meeting, they agreed to meet in a cafe nearby the PSB building. Akiho arrived earlier and waited a few minutes before she met him for the first time.

“Sorry I’m late,” apologized the man.  
“Not at all,” she smiled a bit, before continuing, “Ginoza Nobuchika I presume? Nice to meet you, my name is Toganezaki Akiho. I work as a military doctor in the Nago national defense base, and I’m also the appointed doctor for your mother Ginoza Sae.”  
Ginoza bowed a bit before sitting: “Thank you for your continuous work on taking care of my mother.”  
“Nah, don’t mention it. Yakushi-san simply asked me to do it.”  
“Did something happen with mom?”  
“Oh…” Akiho let out, suddenly remembering she took his mother as an excuse to meet him. She then directed him a small smile: “Your mother is doing fine. I took some of my time to go to Tokyo but her vital statistics are registered in my watch so I can monitor her anytime. The nursing drone is taking care of all while I’m away.”

Ginoza smiled a bit upon hearing her explanation. Akiho put both of her elbows on the table, and rested her chin on her hands. She looked away and claimed in a soft voice: “Normally, Nacchan would’ve been more entitled to do it… she is amazing.”

Ginoza titled his head a bit, wondering who was “Nacchan”. It didn’t take much time until he got an answer to his internal question.  
“Oh,” Akiho began, looking back at Ginoza, “I’m talking about Natsuha. We are cousins,” she announced with a malicious smile.  
The man felt his heart skip a beat as he heard about the relationship Akiho had with Natsuha. Suddenly hearing her name brought him to think about her, making his heart beat faster.

Akiho screwed up her eyes, staring at Ginoza’s face: “By the way, I’m sorry to tell you this out of the blue, but I allowed myself to do a background check on you. I love Nacchan and it is my role to protect her from harmful bugs,  _ if you get what I mean _ .”   
Ginoza glared at the woman: “Do you mean I’m one of them?”  
“I’ve never said such a thing,” calmly replied Akiho.  
The man closed his eyes, visibly irritated. 

Akiho claimed with a calm voice, her chin still resting on her hands: “Ever since she’s young, she has been popular with men. I don’t count anymore how many confessions she got… thankfully she was attending an all-girls school during high school, but it got worse when she joined medical studies... “ 

She then stared at Ginoza’s face and continued with a weary tone: “She is pretty, has a good personality and was an excellent student. She is now a proficient doctor recognized by her colleagues… well, she might have a childish and reckless side to her, but all in all she is a very good person. I personally love her really much and consider her as my dear little sister, so I want her happiness.”  
Ginoza simply let out after hearing Akiho’s testimony: “... I don’t get why you’re telling me all of that.”  
The woman stared at him with a weary face: “I wonder why I’m telling you all of that indeed.”

Somehow, the way Akiho was behaving was bugging Ginoza. He asked with an irritated tone: “Was it all you had to tell? If so I’m going to go back to--”  
As he was about to leave, Akiho stopped him with a hand gesture and exclaimed: “Ah, wait up!”  
The man glared at her: “What again?”  
“I actually wanted to meet you to talk about Natsuha,” she confessed, a sudden soft tone to her voice.  
“What about her?” simply asked the man.

“Sit up and I’ll explain,” she said, at which Ginoza sighed. He sat back.  
“I’ve heard you’ve been getting along with her well lately, so I wanted to meet you and see by myself which kind of person you are,” Akiho explained. She then breathed in and out before continuing: “As I said, Nacchan is pretty and has a good personality. However, she was always approached by men who had after her status and our family…”  
She looked straight into Ginoza’s eyes: “Her dad is the hospital’s director. Later on, I believe he wants his daughter to take on the position... “  
Ginoza diverted his look. 

“Anyway, what I mean by all of that is that if you’re trying to get along with her not for what she is but for what she possesses, then forget about it all now and disappear from her life while it’s still time,” Akiho glared at him.

Deep inside, she didn’t want to be this mean to him, but simply test whether he was worthy of the love Natsuha beared for him. The latter clearly told Akiho she didn’t confess yet to him so she was desperately trying not to give away Natsuha’s feelings before she confesses by herself. 

Ginoza stayed silent a few seconds before chuckling a bit and putting one of his hands on the cheek, a warm smile illuminating his face.

“When I was at the hospital for a serious injury, she was the one watching over me and doing check-ups everyday. She even fell asleep in my room because she apparently stayed up all night waiting for me to wake up after my surgery… for sure she is reckless as she doesn’t know about her boundaries, but I think of her as being hardworking. Her childish side is kind of endearing too, the way she thought my late dad would haunt her because she evoked his memory without introducing her to him was so absurd I couldn’t help but laugh… She is kind and thoughtful, and a very clever person. Spending time with her is so refreshing and I feel like I can be myself when interacting with her… why is she making me feel that way, geez…”

Akiho widened her eyes upon hearing Ginoza’s talk. She noticed the sweet tone and look he had while evoking Natsuha. What was particularly striking to her was his look. She recognized it.

_ It was the look of a man in love. _

She closed her eyes in relief and smiled warmly upon realizing he also didn’t evoke even once her status nor her family. He was looking  _ at her _ and not anything else.

Ginoza took back a serious stature as he looked at Akiho’s face: “If, in the future, she were to find someone to spend the rest of her life with, I hope it will be someone who will love her unconditionally and give her all the support she deserves. I also wish for her happiness and… even if it’s only for a little moment now, I hope I can contribute a bit to it by still interacting with her.”

The woman addressed him a warm smile and slammed both of her hands on the table before standing up: “Alright, I’ve heard enough,” she claimed with a soft voice tone before doing some steps towards him: “I’ve came all the way here to Tokyo from Okinawa and I must say I’m not disappointed. I still have other errands to take care of, and would feel bad to take any more of your time so let’s call it a day,” she told, before putting her hand on Ginoza’s shoulder and telling him with a smaller voice.

“In my humble opinion, you’re  _ not only _ contributing a bit to her happiness.”

Akiho had a warm smile letting out this sentence, before bowing a bit and leaving the cafe, leaving Ginoza speechless.

Outside, Akiho took the opportunity to call Natsuha through her watch.

“Nacchan?”  
“Nee-sama? What’s up? Did something happen?”  
“Nah, just felt like calling you~”  
“Geez… I’m still at work now, you know!”  
“I know, I know, don’t get mad it’ll ruin your absolute beauty’s face!”  
“If you don’t have any business with me I’m hanging up!”  
“Aaah, I’m joking! I called to convey you a very important message~ !”  
“Very important? So important you couldn’t wait until we get back home?”  
“Yeah. Open up your two ears and listen well Nacchan!”

Natsuha gulped and braced herself to hear the “very important message” her cousin she was considering as her older sister wanted to convey. Akiho took a deep breath and almost shouted with a wide smile:

“Hurry up and confess to Ginoza-kun already, you dummy!!!”

Akiho let out some laughs as she hung up, not letting the time for Natsuha to reply anything.

Natsuha was blushing like a tomato upon hearing her cousin pushing her to confess, and couldn’t focus on her work the whole day. 


	15. Useless resistance

Following Akiho’s call and a few days of reflection, Natsuha decided to confess to Ginoza at their next meeting. She found some way to contact him and told him she would have “something important to convey” to him with a serious tone. The man agreed and they planned out their meeting. Despite having some certitudes about the fact her feelings towards him were reciprocated, Natsuha couldn’t help but be nervous. It was actually the first time she would confess to someone, since it was the other way round usually.

The day of the meeting, they meet at the usual place: the bench in the park, nearby the fountain.

They both sat next to each other, in silence.  _ Awkward silence _ . Natsuha put her two hands on her thighs, with her head lowered. Her heart was already beating fast as she was rehearsing on her mind what to tell him. Ginoza glanced over her, his hands in the pockets of his trench coat. He felt the atmosphere was kind of tense but didn’t know what to tell.

However, he was the one who first broke the silence.

“And so, what did you have to tell me?”

Natsuha was so focused on repeating over and over what she wanted to tell him that she didn’t hear his question. He noticed she was deep in thoughts and was beginning to lose patience as the atmosphere was beginning to be too heavy.

“Hey, Natsuha!” He suddenly called in a louder voice.

Surprised by being suddenly called by her name, she inadvertently let out from her mouth what she had been rehearsing since earlier:

“I love you.”  
“Excuse me?” Ginoza raised an eyebrow.

The woman put her two hands in front of her mouth in a hurry, noticing the words went out of her mouth without her controlling it. She felt the warmth invading her entire face until her ears.  Embarrassed but still glad her impulsiveness gently pushed her once more to do a step forward, she looked at Ginoza with a determined and serious look, her hands trembling with nervousness on her thighs. She repeated with a clearer voice:

“I love you, Nobuchika-san.”

Upon hearing this, the man seemed to be expressionless as he was trying to proceed with what he just heard. The seconds before he replied seemed like eternity to Natsuha. After another awkward silence, he let out with a surprised voice:

“... are you seriously meaning it? I’m a latent criminal you know.”  
“I’m serious. I love you!” Natsuha repeated, shaking her fists in front of him.

The man let out a sigh before glaring at her.

“As I said, I’m a latent criminal, and you are a doctor. You might’ve been lucky your crime coefficient didn’t raise when you took care of me back then in the hospital, but you can’t know if it will raise at an unacceptable level if you get involved with me any further.”  
“I don’t mind!” almost shouted Natsuha while frowning the eyebrows.  
“You’re really impossible… it’s none of my business if you go back to being a good-for-nothing doctor you know?”  
“It won’t happen even if we get closer!”

Ginoza sighed, tired of arguing with her and simply put his hands back in his coat’s pockets before leaning against the bench, closing his eyes. Another silence again. Natsuha got teary as she was too panicked to think rationally about what to do next. She didn’t want to tell too much and make their relationship status worsen. After taking a deep breath and thinking for a few seconds, she came up with something.

“Nobuchika-san,” she called with a soft tone.  
“What again?” The man directed her with a curt tone.  
“I have a suggestion.”

Ginoza directed his look to her. “I’m listening.”

“Let me kiss you.”  
“ _ Excuse me _ ?”  
“If I kiss you and that my crime coefficient rises, then I will give up on you. If it doesn’t, promise me I’ll get a reply to my confession?”

Ginoza let out a sigh after hearing this. To be honest, this suggestion was too tempting for him not to accept. He diverted his look, and after thinking for a few seconds said in a serious tone while glaring at her: “Just once then.”  
He then raised a bit his hand to activate the crime coefficient scanner of his watch. It didn’t even take a second before he got the data of Natsuha’s crime coefficient appearing. Upon reading it, he widened his eyes: “How clear…”

Natsuha smiled a bit before closing the distance between her and him. She put her hand on his chest and stared at him while slowly approaching her face of his. Ginoza was like paralyzed. All he could do was to back down as much as he could until his back touched the bench again. Natsuha put her other hand on the bench so as not to lose balance, and smirked upon noticing she was just like surrounding with her arms.

“I’ve got you all cornered now,” she murmured with a playful tone, approaching her face further of his. She noticed he diverted his look and was now close enough to smell the faint scent of his perfume. She blushed when thinking he was smelling good and couldn’t push away her impulse anymore.

She softly put her lips on his. When feeling his breath on her lips, she couldn’t help but move a bit her lips on his to make this moment last as much as she could.  
“How soft…” she thought as she felt her heart beating faster.

Taking advantage of this position, she tried to make way with her tongue, but he suddenly firmly pushed her away when feeling something wet on his lips, putting his arm in front of his mouth in an attempt to protect it, surely. He diverted his look and claimed with blushing cheeks: “E-Enough…”

Natsuha put her hand in front of her mouth, smiling warmly: “So it how it feels…” she murmured to herself. She then looked at Ginoza in the eyes and claimed with a sweet tone: “So you know, I’ve got experience with men, but it might be the first time I’m kissing someone I’m seriously in love with.”  
The man looked back at her, still with blushing cheeks and widened his eyes, mid-surprised, mid-jealous. He knew she had experience with men, but couldn’t help but feel jealousy towards it. He felt warm when knowing about the fact Natsuha mentioned after that.

Natsuha smiled at him warmly and closed distance with his face again, at which Ginoza reacted by bringing his arm in front of his mouth again.   
“I love you, Nobuchika-san,” she said once more, as if the times earlier weren’t enough to convey the extent of her feelings for him.  
“How unfair can you be…” he murmured, diverting his look with red cheeks. Natsuha chuckled.  
“Can I kiss you once more?” She almost demanded like a spoiled child with wet eyes.  
“O-of course you can’t! I said only once!” He protested with redder cheeks.

Natsuha pouted before smiling maliciously, closed distance with his face, and softly put her lips on his cheek. Surprised, Ginoza couldn’t move.   
She then looked him in the eyes: “Reservation for the future,” Natsuha claimed with a soft tone, before quickly moving her face away before he would react, fearing he would get mad. What she was predicting happened just after. 

“Hey, I said no more!” 

She put a finger on her cheek, feigning innocence: “Eeeh but technically, it’s not a kiss but only a smack so it should be no count, right?”  
“Geez…” Ginoza put his hand on the forehead, before looking away with blushes.  
“And so, how about my crime coefficient, mister the detective?” She asked with a playful tone.

“Ah, uh… oh, right…” murmured Ginoza before attempting to activate his watch. It seemed like he was so confused he didn’t know how to redo the action he did earlier. Natsuha chuckled at this sight, content to see the usual cool and calm Ginoza Nobuchika being panicked and confused for a simple kiss. He finally managed to activate his scanner and widened his eyes at the result. “.... ?! Impossible…”  
“Hm? How about it?” Natsuha tilted her head.  
“... it’s still clear…” he announced with a smaller voice, enough for Natsuha to hear.  
“Hehe~ I told you my crime coefficient wasn’t the kind to raise this easily!” She proudly claimed, before telling herself: “thankfully you don’t have any scanner to measure my heartbeats now because I’m sure this one would raise at an unacceptable level…”

Ginoza seemed disappointed as he was still staring at the result displayed by the crime coefficient scanner. 

Another awkward silence came in between the two, before Natsuha stared at him, waiting for his reaction. The wind was blowing, gently caressing both of their cheeks. The woman couldn’t stand anymore this silence, so she was about to ask something before Ginoza interrupted her with a monotone tone.

“About what you said earlier,” he began, before diverting his look, “I’ll think about it.”

Natsuha noticed his mid-serious, mid-aggressive look. She smiled a bit upon hearing he would at least consider replying to her confession. For now, it was enough. She felt like she didn’t want to rush this, especially since she was serious about her feelings about him. At the moment, she was simply relieved and glad to have voiced her feelings for him, with the bonus to have been able to kiss him. They stayed next to each other in silence, before they got interrupted by Ginoza’s watch.

“A call from work, huh… sorry, I have to go,” he let out in a hurry before standing up.  
“Ah, wait!” She hastily stood up too, “I… I want to stay longer with you. Please let me walk with you towards the exit?”  
“... do as you want,” he said with a cold tone.

As they were walking next to each other towards the exit of the park, Natsuha was holding her hands in front of her, lowering her head. She was kind of disappointed not to get the reaction she expected from him at her confession. Even worse, she was now even doubting about the fact he would even give back her feelings. More than anything, she was wondering why he was acting all cold towards her now? Did it mean he didn’t feel the same, and it was all her misunderstanding?

“Maybe… it was my mistake after all…” As this thought crossed her mind, she felt teary.

A sudden loud noise interrupted her circles of negative thoughts. It came from next to her. She stopped walking to look at what caused the noise, before seeing Ginoza holding his forehead with his hand.

“Damn it, was this wall always there… ?” He mumbled to himself, irritated. Natsuha noticed his flushed face and couldn’t help but stare at him.   
“Did he just bump onto a wall… ?” She wondered while clinging her eyes.   
Natsuha blushed when she finally noticed how adorable his expression was: a mix of confusion due to the timing of this happening, irritation to have bumped onto a wall, and his flustered face for a reason she could guess. She couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.  
The man turned to look at her when hearing her chuckles: “Did you just see that… ?”   
He glared at her. Natsuha averted her gaze while closing her eyes and put her two arms behind her back, clasping her hands. “Nope, didn’t see anything!” She feigned innocence while having a warm smile illuminating her face.

_ Maybe it wasn’t her mistake after all ♥ _


	16. Between you and me

After spending some days making new wall friends in the PSB building through bumping into them and losing more than often focus on his work tasks, Ginoza spends another day sighing at his desk.

“Is Ginoza-san okay? He seems really clumsy and lost in thoughts lately,” worried Hinakawa.  
“Who knows? He may seem like that but he also must have worries on his own…” Kunizuka let out.

Ginoza was doing his best so he did his work in time, and not to show anyone he had some “worries” lately-- or rather, “someone” he was thinking about all day long. As he was doing some research for a case Division 1 was investigating, his mind wandered and he found himself thinking about Natsuha again. He stopped typing and massaged above his nose, in hope to gain back some concentration and trick his thoughts. At the moment he chose to get back at work, a feminine voice interrupted him.

“Ginoza-san.”  
“Oh, Tsunemori. Did something happen?”  
“... you seem to lose focus more often lately, I was wondering--”  
“Sorry. I will do more efforts to get my work done properly.”  
“No, it’s not that. I was wondering if you’re not overworking… ?”  
“Do you really have this impression?”  
“I’m sorry if I'm mistaken, but it seems you’re staying late at the office to type reports or do more research…”  
“Oh, that. I didn’t notice myself… I just want to get the work done, that’s all.”  
“That’s a great way of thinking, but pay attention not to overdo it.”  
Ginoza smiled at her.   
“You’re worrying too much, I’m doing just fine,” he claimed with an assured voice tone.  
His boss gave his smile back, before remembering: “Oh by the way, would it be possible for you to contact Toganezaki-sensei on my behalf? I remember she told me she would be willing to provide some medical data if needed, and I happen to need some for one of the reports… if possible, I would also like to thank her for her previous help…”

Ginoza suddenly panicked when his boss evoked the name of “Toganezaki”. For some reason, Natsuha’s face was the first one he thought about, despite also knowing of her cousin Akiho. He hastily gathered some random piece of papers on his desk and pretended he had an urgent errand to take care of, bringing with him some book so it would look more realistic.

“Y- Yeah. I will try to tell… her…” he let out, before remembering the last time he met Natsuha at the park, and “that” moment.

His eyes widened as he felt the warmth invading his entire face, until his ears. Akane noticed his flushed face and was wondering if he was really okay. However, she couldn’t interrupt him from walking towards the office’s exit… 

What Akane couldn’t do, the glass door did it instead.

“Wow, Ginoza sure likes walking into walls lately…” reacted Kunizuka.  
“G- Ginoza-san, are you sure you’re okay… ?” Hinakawa worried about his colleague.  
Ginoza turned his head to look at them, holding his forehead. “Y-Yeah, thanks. I just got a bit distracted…”  
Akane walked towards him before snatching the papers and the book from his hands.  
“As expected you’re overworking. You take the afternoon off, Ginoza-san,” Akane frowned the eyebrows with an authoritative voice.  
“But I’m fine--”, tried to protest the man.  
“ _This is an order_ , Enforcer Ginoza.”

The man noticed his boss’ determined eyes. He knew he couldn’t argue with her and let out a sigh: “Fine.” 

“We can’t have you out of action while the CID is lacking staff. Take plenty of rest and come back to us when you’re feeling better,” she said with a warm smile.  
“After all I’m no match with you, Inspector Tsunemori,” he gave back her smile.

As per Akane’s order, Ginoza came back to his room situated in the PSB building. He got a warm welcome from Dime, which helped him to set his heart at ease immediately. He took off his vest and shirt, unveiling his white tank top. Just like every time he has some worries, he decides to take a cup of his dad’s favorite alcohol. 

Ever since that latest meeting with Natsuha, Ginoza had some difficulties finding sleep because he couldn’t help but rewind again and again to that moment where she confessed and kissed him. Deep inside, he was relieved and glad to know he was the one she is in love with, but couldn’t find the necessary will and resolve to reply to her feelings, still haunted about his own past experiences having a relative being a latent criminal, and the thought he could possibly cause inconvenience to the woman he loves.

Reflecting about the past days where he caused inconvenience to his colleagues instead, due to his clumsiness and lack of focus, he took a sip of the cup of alcohol, before dozing off…

“Hey, Nobuchika,” a familiar voice called him.

He slowly opened his eyes, surrounded by a white scenery.

“... dad?”   
“Haha, yeah. Feels weird to have you calling me that way while you were avoiding it before.”  
Ginoza smiled with some sadness.  
“And so how’s the alcohol? Do you like it? It’s the best bottle I’ve left behind, you better enjoy it to the fullest!”  
“Yeah, it tastes good.”  
“Having some troubles?”  
“What makes you think that way?”

“... my dad’s instinct tells me you have… _love troubles?_ ”  
“... ! After the detective instinct, the dad’s instinct, huh... I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ginoza diverted his look with some blushes.  
“Yeah, tells the one who has been bumping into walls for days because of a simple kiss? Haha, that’s youth for you!”  
“T- That’s unrelated. I admit I was confused at that action, but my mind is just filled with other worries. The cases we’re investigating, for example.”

“... if you really have love troubles, why not talk about them to me? Better than talking to walls, haha.”  
“Are you maybe making fun of me? I’m not talking to walls.”  
“It’s an old expression, geez. But yeah, you don’t talk to walls, _you bump into them_ , right?” Jokingly threw Masaoka.  
Ginoza closed his eyes of irritation.

“... anyway, I’m not having any ‘love trouble’ as you call it. I’ll just have to not meet her anymore and I’ll forget about it in no time.”  
“Didn’t you tell you were in love with her last time you visited me?”  
“I changed my mind after that meeting. It’s not love. I don’t like her.”  
“Geez, why not be honest with your feelings for once?”  
“I’m a latent criminal and she is an elite doctor. There’s no way it would work…”  
“So it’s a status problem? However, if she loves you and you love her, then there is no--”

“She already lost her job once because of a mistake. If she were to lose it once more because of me, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”  
“However, it doesn’t seem her crime coefficient raised even with all the times you met.”  
“May be a fluke. However, if we were to involve further, there is no saying it won’t raise… or that she’ll be treated as a latent criminal herself…”  
“Did you notice? Since earlier you’re only worrying about her instead of yourself. If this isn’t love, I don’t know what is,” claimed the old man.  
“Even if I do admit my feelings, it doesn’t change the fact our social statuses are too different. She’ll be happier with another man,” Ginoza claimed at his turn with a pouty face.  
Masaoka stared at his son with a serious look. The latter continued: “You told me to learn how to compromise. I remember it now. She will be happy with another man, and I will forget those feelings by not meeting her anymore.”  
“Hey, stop saying things you don’t even mean. What you want to do is not called compromise, it’s called useless self-sacrifice. I’m pretty sure you’ll be the first one being jealous if she were to go out with another man.”

Ginoza violently blushed when hearing his dad’s affirmation before diverting his look. He couldn’t even deny it.

“I… I don’t want to cause her any inconvenience. I’m already lucky she’s treating me like any other person while I’m a latent criminal…”  
“Like any other person? In my humble opinion she is treating you that way simply because she is in love with you. She wouldn’t have the same attitude with other men…”  
“E-Even so, she is an elite doctor! Someone that is out of my league…”  
“You’ve heard it by yourself. She doesn’t care whether you’re a latent criminal or not. She loves and looks at you for what you are… and it managed to reach you to the heart.”  
“Maybe I got too emotional and felt all of this because she took care of me at the hospital while she was only doing her job… that time when she visited me at the rehabilitation center and addressed me those words of encouragement, all those moments we spent talking together, where I found her cute because of her stupid beliefs about ghosts, how I wanted to help her when she made a mistake at work…”  
“Hey, Nobuchika…”  
“E-Even that kiss, maybe it was only out of pity for the poor man with no experience I am, or to make fun of me... now that I am a latent criminal, I don’t even deserve a proper relationship, and even less with someone like her…”  
“Nobuchika!!!” Vociferated his dad.  
“What?” Ginoza got interrupted in his circles of thoughts. He looked at his dad with a teary face as he desperately tried to bury and negate all of his feelings towards Natsuha.  
“Let’s talk about _you_ one second. What do _you_ want? Put aside the status problem. What do _you_ feel towards her and how do _you_ want your relationship to evolve?”

Ginoza feigned thinking for a few seconds while the reply was pretty obvious and clear to him. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t completely put aside the fact their statuses were too different to even consider having a steady and solid relationship that would last. Too many opinions and feelings were conflicting in his mind. He closed his eyes and sighed, before speaking his own wishes.

“It’s as you said, I’m in love with her. Even I want to walk hand in hand with her openly in the street, and claim she is the one I love… however, someone like me doesn’t deserve her.”  
“Nobuchika, even before being a latent criminal, you are a man with feelings. A human being. Even _you_ deserve happiness.”

 _“You are a human being.”_ Ginoza remembered these were the words he directed to his friend the inspector Aoyanagi before the incident that caused her to die, when she mentioned being an inspector. Thinking about it, Masaoka spoke the truth: even before being a latent criminal, he is above all a human being; as such, and as everyone living under the rules of the Sibyl System, he deserved happiness too… ?

“Natsuha-chan...” seemed to call the old man, “She was worried she wouldn’t be good enough for you, thinking she wasn’t the kind of woman you’d like,” he stated.  
“How do you…”  
“I’ve been watching over her since the first time she came introducing herself to me and apologizing for evoking my memory,” Masaoka smiled warmly.  
“What… ?” Ginoza seemed puzzled.  
“But well,” the old man claimed, not even paying attention to his son’s reaction, “I suppose that’s what happens when one fall in love… you think you’ll never be enough for your love target while it’s most often not the case…”   
Ginoza stared blankly at his dad, seemingly confused. Masaoka continued with a smirk:  
“What I can tell for sure is that her love for you is sincere. That way she has to behave and look at you as if you were her most precious person… it makes me nostalgic about back then with your mother…” he finished with a sad smile.

Ginoza diverted his look while listening to his father. “She is also precious to me....” he let out with a pouty face.  
“Heh,” smirked the old man, before claiming: “it seems like you two held on too much about your feelings towards each other. It would be time to end this once for all, don’t you think?” Masaoka addressed his son with a benevolent look.  
“Easier said than done…” The latter retorted with some blushes. He was actually deeply moved by his father’s support but couldn’t help but pick on his old habits of contradicting his father’s words instead of accepting them honestly.  
“But you can do it, right Nobuchika?” He threw to his son with a playful tone, before continuing: “Aaah, how I wish I was still there to formally give my blessings to your relationship! Well, I can as well watch over you two from where I am!” He widely smiled.

Ginoza stared at his dad with a little smile. It felt relaxing and almost nostalgic for him to be able to have such discussion with him. He wished they could talk that way with each other while it was still time. Father and son stayed silent for a few seconds with a small warm smile on their faces, before Masaoka put his hands on his trench coat, seeming to remember something. 

“Time’s almost up I guess…” he murmured to himself, before directing to his son in a seemingly hasty way:  
“Natsuha-chan did the first step towards you; now, it is your turn. Hurry and grab that happiness that’s meant for you, Nobuchika.”  
Ginoza widened his eyes upon noticing his father’s voice tone and directed his look to him before trying to reply: “Dad, it’s not--”   
“Don’t make me wait too much before showing me my grandchildren!” Masaoka interrupted him with a wide smile. He then began to fade.  
“Hey dad, wait-- !”

It was now pitch black.

Ginoza slowly opened his eyes. Dime was whimpering next to him, worried about his master.  
“A dream… ?” He whispered, before patting Dime’s head: “Sorry buddy, I’ve even caused inconvenience to you huh. It can’t go on like this…”

 _At the hospital.  
_ “Hey, is Natsuha-sensei okay? She has been back at work since days now and…” worried one of the doctors.  
“Yeah, we have been used to her being like this for years now but…” added another one.  
“It’s the first time I’m seeing her bouncing in the corridor and humming at the same time! Even so, she is as elegant and pretty as ever!”  
“Oh god, thank you for giving us back this view… Natsuha-sensei is as pretty as a goddess…”  
“Did she want to get back to work _this_ badly?”

Ever since that latest meeting with Ginoza, Natsuha couldn’t help but bounce and hum in the corridors of the hospital and even during her job, in front of patients. Most of her colleagues and family put it on the account she was really glad to go back to work. However, herself only knew it was for another reason.

“My first~~ kiss with~~ Nobuchika-san~~ Hehehehehe~~”   
This was the only thought that seemed to make flowers bloom around her and contribute to raise up her productivity at work. She was often daydreaming at work, thinking about how soft Ginoza’s lips were, or how good he was smelling. She couldn’t wait for the next time she would be meeting him, and was even fantasizing about what her life would be if they were lovers, bringing her to often squeal and blush like a tomato.

She was imagining resting on his shoulder while they would be intertwining fingers, him resting on her laps while she would be ruffling his hair. Gently caressing his fingers while feeling his warmth gently surrounding her hand before invading her whole body. Hugging him from behind while sniffing his scent, kissing him lightly on the cheek several times before surprising him with a sudden kiss on the lips, spending several hours only flirting with him and telling him what she loves and how much she loves him and… even further?!

“I want to see him again… and kiss him once more… tell him I love him…”  
Thinking about him was so soft and sweet, while being violent and overwhelming at the same time. As much as she could see bubbles and flowers around her memories with him, she realized how draining and breathtaking falling in love with someone could be. As much as she got “experience” with men, Ginoza was her first love as he was the first one to make her feel that way. She was often losing appetite or was sleep-deprived because her brains simply couldn’t stop thinking about him, bringing her heartbeats to be high throughout day and night.

Natsuha was wondering how to provoke their next meeting, as she suddenly felt embarrassed to contact him again and being straightforward, saying things like “I want to hear your answer so let’s meet”, while she was determined not to rush anything. While she was looking for a way to make that meeting happen, she received a call from Akiho.

_That one call was the fatal blow._


	17. So nothing can go between us again

Ginoza and Natsuha sat next to each other at the usual place, on the usual bench, with a heavy atmosphere. The woman had put her hands on her thighs, head lowered. Her throat was knotted, and she couldn’t speak out even if she wanted to. Ginoza stayed silent.

He remembered when a few days before this moment, Natsuha contacted him to tell him with a weary and monotone voice she would like to meet him “a last time”. He actually made up his resolve to reply to Natsuha’s feelings the next time they would meet each other, but her voice tone as well as her unusual silence were bothering him for some reason.

_ Once more, he took the decision to break the silence. _

“If it’s about the reply you’re waiting, I actually--”

Natsuha interrupted him.

“It’s fine,” she briefly said, still having her head lowered.   
“Eh… ?” The man reacted.

“... I don’t need to hear it,” once more, Natsuha had that monotone voice tone.  
“What do you mean… ?”

Natsuha strengthened the grip on her thighs and let out in a teary voice: “... it’s over.”

The man suddenly took her by the two shoulders, making her face him. What he saw was her flustered and teary face.

“Tell me what’s happening!”

She diverted her look. “... apparently my dad knows I’m in love with you, and is now in the middle of planning an arranged meeting with another man so I have to marry this year.”

Ginoza widened his eyes, too taken aback by such an announcement. He couldn’t find the words. He softly let go of Natsuha’s shoulders. 

She sniffed before claiming: “You know, I’ve been expecting it would happen sooner or later because that’s how it is in our family. I was ready to accept it as my fate and not go against it. However, I didn’t expect to fall in love with you and you completely crushed my principles. I was planning to go with the flow and grab anything life would be throwing me… but by meeting and spending time with you, I finally had some will to fight for what I want, for once… but this… isn’t what I can fight against…”

Ginoza listened to her carefully, still bewildered and shattered by the news he just heard. Her explanation didn’t even make completely sense to him. When she finished talking, he still didn’t manage to find the words to convey. His throat began to be knotted. He gulped and looked at her with wet eyes.

“And so… ?” He barely managed to let out his mouth.

Natsuha looked at him with a sweet yet saddened look.

_ “This is a goodbye, Nobuchika-san.” _

As soon as these words reached his ears, it was as if someone shot an arrow right in his chest. He could feel an intense and almost unbearable pain when the words Natsuha pronounced seemed to ring in his mind. He let out a long sigh, as his brains were trying to process the information he just heard. His movements were inhibited, as if they didn’t belong to him anymore. Just like he was in the middle of a fight and in an attempt to protect his injured heart, he leaned on the bench, looking up at the sky.

Natsuha didn’t pay attention to his reactions. She only wanted to keep the goodbyes as short as possible so as not to crush herself. Being able to call him by herself and explaining the meaning of their meeting this day was already a big accomplishment to her. Any effort more and she felt she would be breaking.

“This is all I wanted to say,” finally said Natsuha after a few seconds of silence, desperately trying to hold back her tears. She was now throwing her last forces so this moment wouldn’t be more painful that it was already for her. She was also trying to look “cool” and do as if she wasn’t too affected, so he wouldn’t be trying anything to hold her back.

When Ginoza heard her latest words, he turned his look to her, with widened eyes. His eyes were wet and his pupils trembling. She put her hand on his cheek.

“I’m glad it was you,” she began to say with a warm smile looking at him in the eyes.

The man could only afford to put his hand on hers.

“I’m glad I got to meet you. I’m glad I fell for you. I will never forget the feelings I have for you. You will always have a spot in my heart. I never thought I would fall in love this deeply in my life and you appeared…”

Natsuha began to feel the tears falling from her eyes, and knew it was almost time to put an end to this moment.

“You must be the greatest thing that happened to my life… I love you so much…”

As she conveyed to him words of love again, tears began to fall from her eyes and she quickly swiped them with her hand before stopping to touch his cheek. She tried to address him the brightest smile she could while addressing them these words:

“Please be well. I hope… I hope you find happiness with someone who will love you despite everything. Goodbye, Nobuchika-san.”

She then stood up and turned back to him, staying still some seconds to breathe in and out, before leaving. Ginoza could only watch her back moving away from his sight. He couldn’t do anything to hold her up, nor find anything to say.

As he stayed immobile still sitting on the bench, tears fell from his eyes.

_ Was it over? Just like this? Couldn’t he do anything to have her back next to him? _

Ginoza stayed silent some minutes on the bench, before regaining his usual calmness and reason. It couldn’t be over like this: at least, he would be the one doing what he could to prevent such an end.

He resolved himself to make a call to the person he thought would be most able to help him.  
“Hello~ ?” a feminine voice inquired while he made the call.  
“Toganezaki Akiho. We need to talk,” he said with an aggressive voice.  
“Hoho Ginoza-kun~ ! I was expecting you to call! I hope Natsuha properly told you goodbye?”  
“You…” he frowned the eyebrows.

* * *

_ The day of the arranged meeting. _

Natsuha was exhausted as she spent several days crying to sleep. She was still going to work as usual, but everyone could see she wasn’t at the top of her form. She did her best to smile as much as she could, and do anything to think about something else.

_ However, her thoughts were still full of him. _

The morning of the arranged meeting, Natsuha was expressionless and mechanically chose some clothes as well as make-up to look at least “pretty” and hide the fact she didn’t sleep properly for days so the other party doesn’t get repulsed. When going out of her room, she came upon Akiho and glared at her.

She couldn’t forgive her for giving away the fact she was in love with a latent criminal, even if it was involuntarily. Akiho stepped forward and addressed her with a smile:  
“Nacchan, smile, smile! If not it’ll ruin your absolute beauty’s face!”

Natsuha looked at her with a dead-pan look before turning back to her and going to the room planned for the meeting.

“Alala, she is still mad at me… but it’s only temporary ♪”

In the room where she was supposed to meet her future husband, Natsuha sat on the chair prepared. The other party didn’t arrive yet, so she breathed in and out, preparing herself to be social and smile as much as possible. She has done several days of “exercise” so as to forget about Ginoza and was now about to accept her fate, convinced she would never be involved with him again.

She closed her eyes a few seconds before hearing the door behind her opening. The man that her father supposedly chose for her to spend the rest of her life with appeared. Natsuha had a weary face as she was looking at him: he sure had a good stature, surely due to muscle training, but she found his face to be plain-looking while recognizing he would surely attract girls in the street.

He sat on the chair in front of hers and introduced himself. Natsuha’s mind was wandering and she didn’t quite understand what he was saying. She only caught he was some kind of high-ranked military soldier or something of that kind. After that, he tried to do some small talk as he noticed she was tense, but she was only throwing short and somehow cold replies, which he didn’t seem to mind. She was even sighing from time to time, finding his manner to talk boring and just wanted the meeting to end already.

As time was passing, Natsuha thought she was coming back to her high school and university days, where “love” was only a word with no meaning to her, and where men were only a means for her to keep her high ranking at school or to use for services in exchange of her body. “All beasts…” she was thinking while glaring at the man who continued to talk to her enthusiastically.

“Ah, right… if I can't fight against it I can as well go with the flow… and go back to then… forgetting all about the meaning of love and accept my body to be used again to keep my status and the family’s reputation…”

As she was thinking that way, she noticed the man put his hand on hers and was stroking it softly. While she was watching it with disgusted eyes, she let him do it because it would lead them to be more intimate, and eventually to their relationship be “successful” for the sake of the family and her status. She felt her throat being knotted, either because she wanted to vomit, or because she wanted to scream at his face to not touch her so familiarly while they literally only knew each other for one day.

While the man was still stroking her hand, Natsuha tried to smile as brightly as she could, as if she liked it. The maid brought them some refreshments and cake to eat together. She had lost appetite ever since her last meeting with Ginoza, so all she could do was to take a few bites, while she was grateful for the maid’s excellent cooking skills, which allowed her to appreciate the cake.

The man still tried to find other subjects to talk with Natsuha, but she didn’t seem interested. All she was replying was superficial and he noticed she was absent-minded. For some reason, it made him smile warmly. Natsuha had a pouty face as she was looking at him and wondered how he could even react that way while she had very well conscious she was the worst kind of conversation partner at the moment.

They finished eating the cake and the maid came back to clear the table. Natsuha sighed with relief when she thought it was almost the end. She suddenly thought about how she wanted to eat the cake with Ginoza instead of some random man. This thought made her smile warmly while bringing tears to her eyes. After all, whatever she tried to deny, negate or kill her feelings didn’t work. There was only one truth existing in her eyes: she was in love with Ginoza Nobuchika. It couldn’t do with another man than him.

As she began to feel teary and lower her head, the man put his hand on her cheek. She suddenly looked at him and he was looking at her with a warm smile and wet eyes. Natsuha understood he wanted to kiss her and stayed silent for a few seconds. She then slowly closed her eyes…

SLAM.

Natsuha startled when hearing this loud noise. It sounded like someone violently slammed the door. She turned her look to watch who would have treated the door this badly before widening her eyes recognizing a familiar silhouette. The person who slammed the door quickly walked towards the man in front of Natsuha, and stopped just in front of the man. The latter stood up to face him. Natsuha also stood up, still bewildered to see that person in front of her.

A familiar trench coat.  
A familiar ponytail.   
A familiar person.  
_ The one she loved the most. _

“You won’t get away this easily if you dare lay a finger on what’s mine,” the (not so) mysterious person threatened while glaring at the man.

Natsuha’s supposed future husband didn’t say anything and stepped back before running away as if he was scared.  She was now alone in the room with the one who slammed the door.

“N-Nobuchika-san?! W-what are you-- I mean, why are you here?!”

Nothing made sense for her at that moment. The room and meeting were supposed to be a secret, especially since it took place in the Toganezaki family’s house building, which is guarded by skilled fighters.

“I’m sorry, Natsuha,” he began, embracing her before murmuring in her ear, “I'm sorry to have let you fight alone…”  
She felt like tears would be falling from her eyes.

He then took her by the shoulders before locking his gaze on hers.  
“I won’t try to escape or lie to myself anymore. I love you, Natsuha.”

Natsuha addressed him with a warm smile upon hearing him, surrounding his hips with her arms.  
“I love you too, Nobuchika-san.”

He stared at her with a warm smile: “I tried to repress and bury them, but these feelings were too strong. I couldn’t do anything but accept them… falling in love is sure intense, huh.”

Natsuha chuckled and responded: “Then you know what I’ve been feeling for the past weeks!”  
He also surrounded her hips with his arms and replied with a soft smile: “Yeah.”

She looked at him with wet eyes, blushing cheeks and a pouty face: “My heart is always about bursting when I think about you so take your responsibilities, you stupid coin head man.”  
Ginoza chuckled upon hearing the old nickname she gave him and replied with a warm smile and an attempt to crack a joke: “Oh? Then you should be prepared to take your responsibilities too for taking over my thoughts, so-said instructor.”

They then wholeheartedly laughed and tightly embraced each other.

Feeling his warmth slowly surrounding her, Natsuha had that certitude: she wasn’t alone anymore to face whatever would come her way ♥

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akiho is such a scheming fox >:3


	18. Even you deserve happiness (epilogue)

Both of them met again at their usual spot. Natsuha was very nervous and was tightening her grip above her knees while she was sitting on the bench. Her face was bet red as she was wondering:

“W-- What are we now… ? I mean, we confirmed our feelings for each other but-- does it mean we’re… going out together? Or… ?! Should I ask him… ?”

While they were both sitting in silence next to each other, both of them were feeling weirdly relaxed, as if nothing anymore was preventing them from showing their feelings and emotions to each other. 

Ginoza silently put his hand on her tensed fist, looking at her with a kind look.

“Natsuha,” he began with a sweet tone, “you don’t need to be this nervous, I’m not going to eat you,” he claimed with an assured tone.

She startled when feeling his touch on her fist and hearing he evoked “not eating her”. She could, at the moment, surprise the deepest of her soul screaming: “Rather, I wouldn’t even mind if you eat me now!!!!” which embarrassed her even more. She had to stop thinking so as to prevent her fantasies from taking over.

Natsuha slowly turned her look to him, and quickly diverted her eyes from him when she noticed their looks crossed. Her heartbeats were so loud she could hear them, and she was hoping to keep her calm to hopefully ask him about their current relationship status.

Ginoza noticed her flustered face and smiled warmly. Just like an impulse, he strengthened the grip on her fist before closing the distance between them two and… 

… putting his lips on hers.

Her heart skipped a beat when realizing what he just did, and she couldn’t even close her eyes or react, too surprised by such a sudden happening. More than a simple peak, he did try to move his lips on hers, but felt overwhelmed and preferred to stop before not knowing anymore what to do.

He looked at her in the eyes upon moving his lips away hers, still keeping a close distance from her face. They were so close he could murmur and she would be still hearing him. 

“Pay back,” he claimed with a sweet tone and wet eyes, before telling: “I’m sorry, you were so cute I couldn’t resist…”

“It’s okay…” she replied with the same tone. Natsuha felt like she was floating in paradise as this moment seemed like out of a dream. She didn’t expect being kissed by someone she is in love with would feel this good. Suddenly, she had some flash-backs from her high school and university days, where she had those “experiences” with men; however, looking back at them now, all of them were tasteless.  _ Only Ginoza’s kiss and touch felt sweet and agreeable. _

When remembering her past, she got teary and some tears fell from her eyes. The man thought he did something wrong and apologized once more for his impulse. She slowly shook her head from right to left and stared at him: “No… it’s just that I didn’t expect it would feel this good to kiss someone I love from the bottom of my heart,” she let out with a relieved tone.

Ginoza smiled at her while still having his hand on her fist. He noticed she relaxed the tension at this spot and took that opportunity to softly take her hand into his and intertwine his fingers into hers. They stared at each other in the eyes for a few seconds, before Ginoza let out while diverting his look with a flustered face:

“Hey, Natsuha… do you want to become my lover?”

She clinged her eyes in a attempt to process what she just heard, and smiled at him warmly, strengthening the grip on his fingers:

“What a question… of course I want to, silly,” she replied while staring at his face.

She put her forehead on his and they both smiled widely. At that moment, nothing had more importance than their feelings for each other. Natsuha’s family? Ginoza’s status as latent criminal? None of them mattered now. They both experienced how liberating it felt to not have to hide or pretend in front of the other anymore. Ginoza and Natsuha knew it more than anyone else now: they finally grabbed the happiness that was meant for them.

“I’ll be on your care from now on, Natsuha,” he let out, a warm smile illuminating his face.  
“Me too, Nobuchika-san ♥”

Since that day, their common path towards happiness opened right in front of them...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading until the end!! ;w; I hope you liked it!  
> Natsuha and Nobuchika's story is still continuing after this (tbh I've wrote the whole epilogue aftermath and have a clear idea on their future together hehe) so feel free to ask if you want more details!  
> If you're curious about the supporting characters appearing in the story (mainly Ema and Akiho), feel free to ask too! ♥


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